Trump eyes privatizing USPS as Virginia's delivery rate among worst in U.S.
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President-elect Trump might resurrect his first-term goal to overhaul the U.S. Postal Service.
Why it matters: The last push to make the USPS more efficient led to Richmonders having widespread delivery issues — including delayed cancer screening results and missing voter ballots.
Driving the news: Trump reportedly said the government shouldn't subsidize the mail agency given its recurring financial losses, per the Washington Post, which cited three unnamed sources.
- The Postal Service hasn't been profitable since 2006 and lost $9.5 billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
- But those against having a privately owned USPS say it could impact hundreds of thousands of government jobs and potentially undercut reliable delivery to more remote areas.
Flashback: On-time delivery hasn't been USPS' strong suit in Virginia since a Henrico mail processing center became the first nationwide to transition to a regional hub in July 2023.
- It was part of a plan — devised by a Trump-era appointee for Post Master General — to modernize the Postal Service and make mail cheaper and deliveries faster.
- But the transition went so poorly that Virginia's on-time delivery rate of 66% last year was the worst in the U.S.
- Then lawmakers and Richmond's Commonwealth's Attorney got involved and a USPS audit found errors leading to lost mail, a lack of training and at one point, a staffer sleeping on a forklift.
The latest: Despite improving to about 82% this quarter, USPS in Virginia is still in the bottom 10 for on-time delivery, per a USPS dashboard.
What's next: A USPS spokesperson told Axios that it's seeking "an advisory opinion from our regulator concerning our plan to modernize and optimize our processing and transportation networks."
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