There are thousands of postal workers and letter carriers in Missouri; I’m sure you know many of them. I know our local letter carrier. These people work hard to deliver us everything from packages ordered online, to medication, to Social Security checks. I’m sure you’ll agree that when we discuss the dysfunction of the Postal Service, it is in no way directed toward those individuals who perform an invaluable service to our community. Just like us, they have to live with the bureaucracy and mismanagement of the United States Postal Service (USPS) in D.C., and we are all paying the price. Despite the fact that the Postal Service can set its own rates, it is deeply in debt, grossly understaffed, and in desperate need of reform.

The Postal Service has faced long-standing issues that have been severely exacerbated by the pandemic. Due to the rise of online correspondence, declining mail volumes — coupled with an insufficient ability to adapt to an evolving society — have caused the USPS to lose large sums of money for more than a decade. The agency is on track to run out of funding by 2024, potentially costing taxpayers $75 billion or more to bail them out. As is typically the case with agencies that aren’t putting at risk their own money — it’s taxpayers’ money — they don’t seem to mind squandering it and believe the taxpayers will come to their rescue.

Regardless of the massive challenges they face, some people in Congress and the Postal Service believe it should try its hand at banking. Recently, the USPS established a pilot program allowing customers to exchange a paycheck or business check for prepaid gift cards, charging a $5.95 fee for the service. The Postal Service claims they are simply accepting various forms of payment for gift cards, but we know exactly what they are doing: check cashing.

This federal agency that cannot carry out its current duty without incurring massive debt now thinks people should trust it with financial services. What’s more, because they knew it was a laughable proposal, the USPS did not follow any of the legally required steps to get this program off the ground. The program was not approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), which directly violates the Postal Accountability & Enhancement Act (PAEA). In an effort to stop this program, recently, several of my Financial Services Committee colleagues signed my letter* to the Chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) demanding that the commission do its job and conduct the proper oversight over the USPS. Federal agencies, particularly those who have proven to be financially illiterate, cannot unilaterally decide to start offering financial services. And one of the main reasons the PRC exists is to prevent these reckless and ridiculous efforts from happening.

This is similar to the Democrats’ attempt to include an IRS reporting requirement in the last reconciliation bill. The IRS is another government agency drowning in its current duties. Why would we give them more opportunities to fail and more authority over the financial well-being of the American people? The insistence by some in the government to move into the financial services sector is a serious threat to the economic freedom of your customers and every American citizen. Whether it’s something as outlandish as the Post Office taking deposits, or the very real effort for the Small Business Administration to take over small business lending, we have to remain vigilant to ensure it doesn’t happen.