The United States Postal Service (USPS) is once again in the national spotlight after reporting a staggering $3.1 billion net loss for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, a setback that has intensified debate over the agency’s future and the controversial reform plan currently steering its course. The financial blow, greater than the $2.5 billion loss recorded in the same period last year, has left USPS leaders and critics alike searching for answers as the agency faces mounting pressure to deliver both reliable service and fiscal sustainability.
At the heart of the controversy is the “Delivering for America” plan, a 10-year reform blueprint first launched by former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Now, with new Postmaster General David Steiner at the helm, questions swirl about whether sticking to DeJoy’s roadmap is the best path forward. During a public meeting of the USPS Board of Governors on August 7, 2025, Steiner struck an optimistic note despite the bleak numbers. “The strategy is sound. Now we have to execute,” Steiner declared, urging unity within the organization. “But we can’t execute unless all of our team is working together. We all need to be rowing the oars in the same direction.”
USPS Chief Financial Officer Luke Grossman echoed Steiner’s resolve, emphasizing the agency’s ongoing efforts to innovate and streamline operations. “While the Postal Service continues to face financial challenges, we are an organization pursuing continuous improvements and innovation. We remain focused on moving toward financial sustainability through operational efficiency, product strategies that will generate growth, and pricing adjustments,” Grossman said, as reported by the agency’s official press release.
But not everyone is convinced that the Delivering for America plan is working. Nonprofit advocacy group Keep Us Posted has emerged as a vocal critic, arguing that the plan’s focus on frequent rate hikes and package delivery has failed to stem the tide of losses and has eroded the core mission of universal mail service. In a statement, the group asserted, “For 250 years, the U.S. Postal Service has been a cornerstone of our nation’s infrastructure, providing reliable and affordable mail service to every American, including those in the most remote and underserved areas which private couriers cannot, or will not, reach.” The group lambasted the previous leadership for “plowing ahead with…often twice-annual postage hikes far above inflation rates, as well as service delays, and a foolish focus on packages over mail, even though mail is still the largest revenue generator for USPS.”
The numbers lend weight to the critics’ concerns. USPS has racked up $6.2 billion in net losses so far this fiscal year and projects that number will rise to $6.9 billion by year’s end. Despite these losses, the agency has seen some bright spots: package revenue continues to grow and total work hours are down. Delivery performance has also improved, with more than 90% of first-class mail delivered on time in the third quarter and average delivery times at 2.6 days. Yet, mail volume is still declining, and USPS’s modest revenue growth is largely attributed to regular stamp price hikes—most recently, a five-cent increase that brought the cost of a first-class Forever stamp to 78 cents in July 2025.
These frequent price increases are now under scrutiny. The Postal Regulatory Commission, which oversees USPS pricing and service standards, filed a proposed rule in June 2025 that would limit the agency to just one price adjustment per year for market-dominant products such as First Class Mail, Marketing Mail, Periodicals, Media Mail, and Bound Printed Matter. This proposal would take effect from October 1, 2025, through October 1, 2030, unless the changes are minimal or involve only rate decreases. Notably, the rule would not apply to competitive products like Ground Advantage, Priority, or Priority Express services—offerings that are particularly important to online retailers.
Governor Ron Stroman, a former deputy postmaster general and current USPS Board member, voiced strong opposition to regulatory efforts that would curb the board’s authority over pricing. “It would be a mistake for the commission to override the board’s pricing decisions,” Stroman argued, maintaining that the board is “in the best position to determine how to best utilize the pricing authority and make decisions about specific price increases for market-dominant products.” Stroman did concede, however, that the agency may eventually opt for less frequent price hikes as economic conditions change: “I can certainly envision future scenarios where we conclude that the factors we consider in exercising our business judgment weigh against a twice-a-year price increase.”
Governor Dan Tangherlini, another board member, agreed that USPS should “maintain authority over pricing.” The debate over pricing authority is also playing out in Congress. Keep Us Posted is championing the USPS Services Enhancement and Regulatory Viability Expansion and Sustainability for the U.S. Act (USPS SERVES US Act), introduced by Congressman Sam Graves (R-Mo.). The bill would empower the Postal Regulatory Commission to halt excessive stamp hikes, limit price increases to once per year, and establish an autonomous Office of Customer Advocate to protect the public’s interests. However, the bill remains far from becoming law.
All of this is unfolding as USPS marks its 250th anniversary, a milestone that Steiner has used to highlight the agency’s enduring public service mission. In a letter to employees, Steiner reaffirmed his opposition to any plan to privatize USPS, stating, “The strength of the Postal Service resides in our structure as a self-financing independent entity of the executive branch, functioning much like a business but with a public service mission.” He added, “Everyone in the U.S. and its territories has access to our postal products and services, while paying the same rate for a first-class mail postage stamp, regardless of their location.”
Despite the agency’s storied history and vast infrastructure—the largest of any non-military institution in the country—USPS is grappling with a leadership vacuum at the highest levels. As of early August 2025, the USPS Board of Governors is operating with just five members out of a possible nine. President Donald Trump withdrew his nomination of John LaValle to the board on August 1, 2025, and nominated Anthony Lomangino, a waste and recycling executive, whose confirmation hearing is still pending. Governor Roman Martinez IV, whose term has expired but is serving in a holdover capacity, has urged the White House and Congress to fill the remaining board vacancies, warning, “We have five governors now. One of us, a lame duck — me — and we’re supposed to have nine. So I urge the Congress, I urge the White House to fill the slate of governors that we need.”
As the agency navigates a critical juncture, the stakes could hardly be higher. With billions in losses, a divided leadership, and a reform plan under fire, USPS’s next moves will shape not just its own future, but the daily lives of millions of Americans who rely on its services. The coming months promise more debate, more scrutiny, and—if the agency’s long history is any guide—more adaptation to a rapidly changing world.
