The USPS crisis reached Congress in mid-March when Postmaster General David Steiner testified before the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations that the agency will run out of cash in less than 12 months at its current rate and may be forced to stop delivering mail.

Federal News Network reported that USPS has since taken one unilateral step to conserve cash: suspending contributions to the Federal Employees Retirement System, a move that could free up to $15 billion by delaying required pension payments through September 2030. The Postal Regulatory Commission granted a waiver allowing the deferral. That buys time but does not fix the structural problem.

USPS does not receive tax dollars for operating expenses. It funds itself through stamps and service fees. As email, texts, and online payments have replaced letters and check-mailing, first-class mail, the agency’s most profitable product, has collapsed in volume. Amazon, USPS’s largest package customer, has announced plans to cut the volume it sends through the agency by as much as two-thirds by September.

The practical consequences of a USPS cash failure extend well beyond mail delivery delays. Approximately 6 percent of diabetes prescriptions in the US are delivered by mail. Roughly 3.7 million Medicare enrollees live in areas where pharmacy access is limited and rely on postal delivery for medications. Rural communities, which are legally entitled to the same delivery service as urban areas under USPS’s universal service obligation, would be disproportionately exposed if service is cut. The Government Accountability Office released a report alongside the Steiner testimony calling the USPS business model “unsustainable” and stating that “urgent action” is needed.

What Congress Is Being Asked to Do

Steiner’s ask to Congress has three parts: raise the borrowing limit with the Treasury so USPS can access more capital, allow the agency to set prices more freely by removing the current once-per-year rate increase cap the Postal Regulatory Commission imposed through 2030, and give USPS flexibility on its universal service obligation. Republican committee members pushed back, questioning whether USPS had exhausted all internal cost-cutting options before asking for a bailout. Committee chair Rep. James Comer noted that Congress had already passed the Postal Service Reform Act in 2022, which saved USPS $107 billion in total costs.

What Happens to Mail If Nothing Changes

As crypto.news has reported, the federal legislative calendar in 2026 is under severe pressure from the Iran war, the CLARITY Act negotiations, and midterm positioning; a USPS rescue bill would compete for floor time against all of those priorities. As crypto.news has noted, disruptions to government-dependent services, including postal delivery of financial documents, checks, and regulatory notices, carry spillover effects into markets that rely on physical document flows. Steiner told lawmakers simply: “The mail will stop” if the agency cannot meet its obligations, including delivery of prescription drug packages.