WASHINGTON, D.C. — Postmaster General David Steiner told Congress on June 24, 2026, that "USPS is no longer on track to run out of money and stop deliveries next year." The assessment follows a regulatory waiver and cost-saving measures by the agency.

The U.S. Postal Service has paused payments to worker retirement funds and restricted non-essential spending. According to its latest projections, a cash crisis for the agency is now projected to occur between 2031 and 2034.

The Postal Regulatory Commission waived the Postal Service's required minimum retirement payments through fiscal year 2030, providing an approximate $15 billion cushion. Robert Taub, acting chair of the commission, stated in written testimony to a House Oversight subcommittee: "The Commission's action offers some 'breathing room' and extends the time period before the Postal Service's 'reported insolvency' and the stated crises of stopping mail delivery to at least another several years provided the Postal Service makes judicious decisions about its expenditures starting now."

The Postal Service reported a net loss of $2 billion in the second quarter of the current fiscal year ending May 31, 2026. The agency previously lost $9 billion in the last fiscal year ending September 30, 2025.

Steiner told lawmakers at a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that the agency is borrowing money to fund operations. "What we are doing right now is we're basically borrowing money from our retirement plans to fund current operations," Steiner said. "I'm not particularly comfortable with that. I promise you our employees are not particularly comfortable with that. You all shouldn't be comfortable with that. None of us should be comfortable with that. To me, that's why we have to have this discussion of how we fix this broken business model."

The Postmaster General has called for Congress to revise laws to allow the Postal Service to borrow more money and reform its retirement plans. In late April, the Postal Service implemented temporary 8% price increases, which are scheduled to expire in mid-January. Additionally, a 5% increase to the price of a first-class 'forever' stamp, raising it to 82 cents, is set to begin July 12. This will mark the eighth price increase over the past five years. The Postal Service also signed a multi-year agreement to handle the final stage of DHL eCommerce's package deliveries in the United States.

Reps. Kweisi Mfume, Pete Sessions, and James Walkinshaw, members of the House Oversight Committee, wrote in a letter to Steiner: "To implement reforms that would improve the Postal Service's long-term financial stability, Congress must be equipped with clear data detailing the anticipated financial effects of the proposals you provided us with in your recent testimony."