On August 7th, 2026, Postmaster General and CEO David Steiner delivered remarks during the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors open session. Quarterly remarks to the Board of Governors are usually a status report, but these warrant a closer look than usual.
Steiner used the session to lay out a binary choice: either Congress passes a legislative package that funds the Postal Service’s unprofitable mandates, or the USPS will pursue standalone breakeven on its own through service reductions, post office closures, and higher prices. Both paths change what mailers can expect to pay and what service they can count on.
The quarter results
The USPS finished the quarter $600 million better than the same quarter last year, and Steiner said momentum has carried into the current quarter, with recent weeks meeting plan on both cost and revenue. Work hours came down while service performance went up. New Regional Processing and Distribution Centers and Sorting and Delivery Centers are coming online without the disruptions that marked earlier rollouts. End-to-end visibility remains the priority project, which Steiner expects to drive further service gains once implemented.
Prices are going up
Steiner was direct about pricing strategy. Mail volumes are declining, but revenue is rising because prices are rising, a pattern that has held in 14 of the last 16 quarters. He argued the USPS has not yet reached the point where that strategy should change and that there is more price to take in the marketplace.
He also criticized the Postal Regulatory Commission for limiting the USPS to one price increase per year, which he valued at $700 million in lost revenue. In response, the USPS has requested authority for a January 2027 market dominant price increase rather than the usual July timing. This shift would provide $600 million to $800 million in additional cash.
For mailers, this is the most immediate item to act on. Anyone forecasting 2027 postage should model both a January and a July increase.
The underlying problem
Steiner pointed to a 17-year imbalance between costs and revenue, and framed it as a structural issue rather than an operational one. The USPS is expected to be self-sustaining while carrying mandates that do not cover their costs. His question for Congress: is the goal to maintain current service levels regardless of cost, or to provide only the service that can be sustained? He was clear the decision belongs to Congress, as the Postal Service does not make policy, they deliver the mail.
What the USPS is asking for
The legislative package the USPS plans to present includes:
- A modest, temporary appropriation framed as an investment in the roughly $2 trillion ecosystem surrounding the Postal Service, revisited periodically and reduced as finances improve
- Reforms to benefit plans
- Increased borrowing authority to offset more than $20 billion of historical underinvestment
Looking ahead
What happens if the proposed legislative package doesn’t pass? Prior to the New Year, nothing is likely to change, as peak season will need to be the priority for the USPS. But after that, Steiner said the USPS would examine service levels, close thousands of unprofitable post offices, and raise prices. He described it as a simple either-or.
Steiner also sharply criticized a bill passed out of Committee that would legislate 83 new ZIP Codes, estimating the cost at well over $800 million. That would completely erase the quarter’s $600 million gain with service impacts extending to surrounding areas. He urged Congress to set it aside in favor of a bipartisan Senate Committee alternative that would instead reform how USPS addresses community addressing needs.
The bottom line
By early 2027, the USPS will look different regardless of which path Congress takes. Either the legislative package passes, or the USPS begins reducing service and closing facilities to reach breakeven. Organizations with mail-dependent operations have a short window to assess their exposure, particularly on postage costs, which are going up either way.
To read Steiner’s remarks in full, you can find the full transcript in this post by the USPS.
