The Postal Service is bleeding cash, but the DOGE can stop the hemorrhaging



The Department of Government Efficiency is teaming up with the U.S. Postal Service, and it’s a good thing. Last week, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Congress he had reached an agreement with the DOGE to root out inefficiencies and help the service address “big problems” — most of which are financial. As an initial cost-cutting gesture, the USPS is reducing its workforce by 10,000 through a voluntary early retirement program.

The DOGE certainly has its work cut out for it. The USPS lost an astounding $9.5 billion in fiscal year 2024 and is projected to lose an additional $60 billion to $70 billion by 2030. However, most of this spending is wasteful — not essential — which positions the service, through proper reforms, to recover and once again deliver for taxpayers and consumers.

Small cuts, combined with more significant reforms, add up. It’s time for the DOGE to start trimming the fat.

One place to start is the service’s electric vehicle purchases. The USPS is eager to replace most of its aging fleet of more than 200,000 mail trucks, which, according to the latest iteration of a 2021 deal with supplier Oshkosh Corp., will cost nearly $10 billion for a fleet of roughly 100,000 vehicles, including 66,000 EVs.

Going back to gas

This agreement is a financial disaster. EV deliveries are already behind schedule, and according to DeJoy, taxpayers and consumers are paying anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 more per EV than for their gas-powered counterparts — and even that may be an underestimate.

In 2022, Congress appropriated for the USPS $3 billion in taxpayer dollars for EV purchases, including $1.29 billion for vehicles and $1.71 billion for charging infrastructure.

When factoring in this one-time subsidy and the Postal Service’s own investment, switching to an all-gas fleet could save nearly $1 billion annually over the next decade. Fortunately, Oshkosh appears open to renegotiating the contract.

If Oshkosh doesn’t play ball, however, lawmakers may step in. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) have introduced the “Return to Sender Act” to recoup taxpayer money wasted on these EV purchases.

Ending Saturday mail deliveries is another straightforward way to cut costs. The USPS currently delivers mail Monday through Saturday, with some packages delivered on Sundays. Shifting to a five-day delivery schedule could reduce costs and improve worker morale. The USPS itself proposed this change in its 2013 “Five-Year Business Plan,” estimating savings of $1.9 billion per year — roughly $2.6 billion today after adjusting for inflation — amounting to about one-third of the service’s average annual losses in recent years.

USPS makes … television?

Beyond these major cuts, the USPS continues to waste money in baffling ways.

The service has ventured into television production, premiering a show called “Dear Santa, The Series” in 2022. This isn’t even its first attempt at TV. The USPS also produced “The Inspectors,” a show that struggled with mediocre ratings. While the costs of these productions remain unclear, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance Foundation plans to file Freedom of Information Act requests to uncover the figures.

TPAF will also investigate the USPS’ suspicious — and increasingly bleeding — check-cashing and money-order operations in addition to the agency’s public relations spending on gratuitous programs like its thin-skinned responses to op-eds and an official podcast.

Small cuts, combined with more significant reforms, add up. In all, the USPS can save more than $7 billion per year with a few common-sense spending cuts. It’s time for the DOGE to start trimming the fat.

One Dem clutches pearls after US Postal Service aligns with DOGE to remedy 'broken business model,' exit 10,000 workers



U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy enraged Democrats Thursday by revealing he has struck a deal with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to tackle some of the inefficiencies that have left the Postal Service a financially nonviable organization with a "broken business model" that "experienced close to $100 billion in losses and was projected to lose another $200 billion."

DeJoy, who was appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term in office, noted in a letter to congressional lawmakers that the USPS has been undergoing a transformation from a "battered government bureaucracy with substantial financial losses destined for collapse" to a functional and financially sound organization.

The USPS, an organization with 635,000 employees, reported a net loss of $9.5 billion in fiscal year 2024 and and a net loss of $6.5 billion in 2023. The organization warned last year that unless it continued to cut costs or received a taxpayer-funded bailout, it was headed for extinction.

DeJoy underscored in his letter that "the rescue activities and pace of change required to transform this organization far exceeds most normal turnaround efforts. The scale of our daily work is unprecedented and extraordinary, our infrastructure was greatly deteriorated due to years of underinvestment, and our operating practices were for a postal environment of long ago that were never adjusted as the times and our business changed."

The USPS has managed to cut some costs in recent years, in part by renegotiating air and ground transportation contracts, which saved the service $10 billion annually; by reducing the headquarters workforce by 20%, which saved the service over $200 million annually; and by canning 30,000 workers since 2021. These and other changes helped pave the way for the USPS to turn a profit of nearly $1 billion in its most recent quarter — its first time in the black since the pandemic.

Despite these successes, DeJoy indicated that he has accepted additional help from the DOGE to go the distance.

'We should privatize everything we possibly can.'

"I signed an agreement with the General Service Administration and DOGE representatives to assist us in identifying further efficiencies," wrote DeJoy. "This is an effort aligned with our efforts, as while we have accomplished a great deal, there is much more to be done. We are happy to have others to assist us in our worthwhile cause."

In addition to exiting 10,000 workers over the next 30 days through a voluntary early retirement program, DeJoy highlighted a number of issues that, if resolved with the help of the DOGE, could save the USPS billions of dollars. Among the issues identified were the:

  • "mismanagement of our self-funded retirement assets and the actuarial miscalculations of our retirement obligations," which apparently result in several billions of dollars of unnecessary additional charges each year;
  • mismanagement of the postal workers' compensation program, which apparently results in roughly $400 million in excessive annual charges;
  • estimated $6 billion to $11 billion cost of unfunded mandates imposed on the service by legislation; and
  • "burdensome regulatory requirements restricting normal business practice" and the Postal Regulatory Commission, which DeJoy said was an "unnecessary agency that has inflicted over $50 billion in damage to the Postal Service" and stands "in the way of the timely and necessary changes required to succeed as a self-funded enterprise in a competitive environment."

"The DOGE team was gracious enough to ask for the big problems that they can help us with," added DeJoy.

The postmaster requested that lawmakers get on board and engage with the USPS and the DOGE representatives "that need to adapt to the critically necessary changes involved and to correct for the deficiencies of the past that can and must be corrected."

The prospect that the DOGE will work with the Postal Service to ensure it not only survives but thrives has angered a solitary Democrat who figured this was the proverbial hill he would die on.

Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-Va.), ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, stated, "The only thing worse for the Postal Service than DeJoy's 'Delivering for America' plan is turning the service over to Elon Musk and DOGE so they can undermine it, privatize it, and then profit off Americans' loss."

Although there was no explicit mention of privatization in DeJoy's letter, Connolly might have been referencing Musk's suggestion last week that "we should privatize everything we possibly can," including the post office.

"This capitulation will have catastrophic consequences for all Americans — especially those in rural and hard to reach areas — who rely on the Postal Service every day to deliver mail, medications, ballots, and more," added Connolly.

Brian Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, indicated that he was aware of the agreement between the USPS, the GSA, and the DOGE, stating, "We will continue closely monitoring the situation and will fight like hell against any attack on the rights and privacy of NALC members."

Renfroe noted, however, that the policy changes the postmaster proposed in his letter "are needed to improve the Postal Service's financial viability," adding the NALC welcomes "anyone's help who can influence Congress and the Administration to finally enact them."

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Media Tacitly Admit Mail-In Balloting Is Not As Secure And Reliable As They Claim

Since the chaotic 2020 election and coincident expansion of mail-in balloting, America’s corrupt media have gone full throttle to convince the country that this unsupervised system is 1,000 percent safe and never produces fraud. The same consensus also accuses Americans concerned about the risks associated with mass mail-in voting of being conspiracy theorists and so-called […]

How Can Mail-In Voting Be ‘Secure’ When Postal Theft Is Rampant?

Dems' talking point that mail-in voting is completely 'safe' and 'secure' is collapsing as postal theft becomes rampant throughout the nation.
Insane Libs Are Mailing Sh*t to Republican Senators
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Insane Libs Are Mailing Sh*t to Republican Senators

 

California state Senate votes in favor of mailing ballots to registered voters ahead of every election



Democrats in the California state Senate voted in favor of having all active registered voters receive a ballot through the mail prior to each election, according to the Associated Press.

While a majority of Golden State voters have been voting via mail for years, most had to request that their county elections office to send a ballot, according to the AP. California temporarily altered the rules for the 2020 presidential election to require that all voters get a ballot through the mail in advance of Election Day, the AP noted. State legislators kept that rule for the 2021 elections, including the gubernatorial recall contest, the outlet noted.

The state Senate voted Thursday in favor of establishing the rule as permanent, according to the AP, which noted that although the state Assembly previously voted to pass the measure, since the Senate made some alterations the Assembly will need to vote on it again before it heads to the governor.

GOP state senators stood against the legislation Thursday, highlighting an episode from last month when authorities found more than 300 recall election ballots in a person's vehicle, according to the outlet.

Republican Sen. Andreas Borgeas noted that he got one recall ballot delivered to his primary residence and another sent to his in-laws' home.

"So if I'm getting two ballots, I know others are getting multiple ballots as well, and that feeds into this narrative of distrust," Borgeas said, according to the AP.

Democratic state Sen. Tom Umberg said people could not vote twice if they get more than one ballot because the ballots are tracked using bar codes, according to the outlet.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is currently staring down a recall contest and will be ousted from office if a majority of voters back his removal.

"All California active registered voters will receive a vote-by-mail ballot for the September 14, 2021 recall election," according to the California Secretary of State's website, adding the county elections office would begin mailing ballots by Aug. 16.

California Senate just approved #AB37, @Marc_Berman's bill to require elections officials to mail every active vote… https://t.co/LbthWeTgE8
— Dustin Gardiner (@dustingardiner) 1630611617.0 

UPS admits to losing 'damning' Hunter Biden documents

UPS has come forward as being the company responsible for losing documents en route to Fox News's Tucker Carlson. The documents were considered to be "authentic, real and damning", containing evidence showing improprieties of presidential hopeful Joe Biden.

California man finds dozens of mail-in ballots discarded in alley trash cans



A California man is sounding the alarm bell after he found dozens of mail-in ballots mysteriously stuffed inside two Santa Monica trash cans.

The shocking discovery comes as the 2020 presidential election is well under way in terms of absentee and mail-in ballots. Voting by mail took newfound prominence in the national dialogue over the summer as leaders looked for safe methods of conducting a national election amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many Americans, therefore, have chosen to cast their vote via mail-in ballot, which Republican critics say increases the possibility of voter fraud.

What are the details?

Osvaldo Jimenez told KABC-TV that he made the alarming discovery last Thursday. Stuffed inside a Santa Monica trash can, Jimenez discovered dozens of official ballots, along with other personal mail items, such as bank statements.

"I opened the trash can, and I see a lot of envelopes and ballots, especially ballot envelopes in the trash can, and I knew right away that was not normal," Jimenez said. "I thought it was somebody playing a prank. Nobody's going to throw ballot envelopes in the trash can."

Jimenez's wife posted pictures of the trashed ballots on social media, KCBS-TV reported.

@SantaMonicaProb @santamonicacity @smdailypress My husband just found all these ballots in the trash can in the all… https://t.co/85h7BSnocI
— Soledad ⚾️ (@Soledad ⚾️)1602199199.0

According to KABC, Jimenez recovered the ballots and phoned police.

"If it was my ballot in there, I would want somebody to, you know, recover it," Jimenez told KABC. "Every vote counts, whichever party it is."

Shockingly, Jimenez later discovered even more mail-in ballots in a separate trash can, KABC reported.

How the ballots ended up in the trash cans is not clear. Law enforcement is investigating the incidents, as is the United States Postal Service.

Anything else?

As mail-in ballots play a greater role in the election than they ever have before, there have numerous stories of suspicious activities happening with mail.

For example, the U.S. Postal Service is investigating an incident that happened in Glendale, California, last month in which massive bags of mail were mysteriously dumped in a parking lot.

Then, just last week, a New Jersey mail carrier was arrested after police say he dumped thousands of mail pieces he was supposed to deliver. Among the pieces of discarded mail were 99 ballots.

Meanwhile, an investigation was launched in Virginia last week after six USPS collection boxes were broken into, sparking new fears that mail-in ballots could be compromised or stolen.

Election officials nationwide, however, say that despite mail-in ballots playing a significant role in this year's election, the integrity of the election will not be compromised.

New Jersey mailman arrested for allegedly dumping mail, including 99 election ballots



A United States Postal Service letter carrier from New Jersey was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly tossing more than 1,800 pieces of mail into dumpsters, including 99 election ballots.

What are the details?

Nicholas Beauchene, 26, of Kearny, stands accused by federal authorities of throwing away mail he was assigned to deliver on his route in recent days.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey:

Approximately 1,875 pieces of mail – including 627 pieces of first class, 873 pieces of standard class, two pieces of certified mail, 99 general election ballots destined for residents in West Orange, and 276 campaign flyers from local candidates for West Orange Town Council and Board of Education – were recovered from dumpsters in North Arlington and West Orange on Oct. 2, 2020, and Oct. 5, 2020. The mail had been scheduled to be delivered on Sept. 28, Oct. 1, and Oct. 2, 2020, to addresses on certain postal routes in Orange and West Orange. On the delivery dates for which mail was recovered, Beauchene was the only mail carrier assigned to deliver mail to the addresses on the recovered mail.

The USPS told WCBS-TV that the discarded mail has since been delivered.

Beauchene was charged with one count of delay, secretion, or detention of mail and one count of obstruction of mail. The first offense could land him in prison for up to 5 years with a $250,000 fine, and the second is punishable by up to 6 months in the slammer and $5,000 in fines.

The Daily Mail reported that Orange and West Orange are both in Essex County, New Jersey, which voted "overwhelmingly" for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election. The outlet noted that Clinton garnered more than 240,000 votes in the county compared to then-candidate Donald Trump's 630,000-or-so votes.

Anything else?

According to the New York Post, the New Jersey incident comes "amid fears over mail-in voting dysfunction in the 2020 presidential race." The Post pointed to the chaos in New York City after as many as 140,000 residents were mailed absentee ballots with either wrong name and address — or another person's ballot altogether.

An investigation was also launched in Virginia this week, where election officials warned that six USPS collection boxes were broken into in multiple counties, sparking fears that mail-in ballots could have been stolen.