Dec 21, 2020 - Politics & Policy

COVID bill dedicates $10B to ailing Postal Service

Alayna Treene

A USPS worker is seen deliver mail in December — Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The latest coronavirus relief deal, which Congress is aiming to approve later today, provides $10 billion to help the ailing U.S. Postal Service, legislative aides familiar with the text tell Axios.

Why it matters: This new round of funding comes as the Postal Service has struggled to operate amid the pandemic, withstand a surge in Christmas shipping and be ready for a busy January, when Americans typically receive documents used for their tax preparation.

A fresh round of stimulus checks, this time $600 per adult and child, also are expected to be mailed before the end of this year.

Driving the news: The new bill will convert $10 billion from the government's March CARES Act loan program into direct funding for the USPS. The money will be used for operational and other increased costs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Democrats portrayed the outcome as a win, since it reallocated money the administration had threatened to eliminate.

The backdrop: The Postal Service has faced widening losses during the past several months, and it had been projected to run out of money as early as Oct. 1.

President Trump has also waged open warfare on the Postal Service, criticizing its deals with express shippers such as Amazon and installing a longtime Republican donor, Louis DeJoy, as postmaster general.

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COVID bill dedicates $10B to ailing Postal Service

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