David Steiner, the postmaster general, said at a hearing in Washington on Tuesday that the U.S. Postal Service would be “out of cash in less than 12 months” unless Congress allows it to borrow more and charge more for postage.
While lawmakers from both parties vowed to resolve the Postal Service’s budgetary bind, they appeared to be at odds with Mr. Steiner about how best to do so.
“In about a year from now, the Postal Service would be unable to deliver the mail if we continue the status quo,” Mr. Steiner told lawmakers at the hearing before the Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations, which oversees the independent service.
In fiscal years 2024 and 2025, the agency incurred net losses of $9.5 billion and $9 billion. From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025 — the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 — it lost nearly $1.3 billion.
Mr. Steiner, a former FedEx board member who took over as head of the Postal Service last year, asked lawmakers to loosen regulations so the agency could charge more for postage, and for the ability to borrow more money. After successive years with net losses, the Postal Service, which is meant to be self-sufficient, is up against a federally mandated borrowing limit.
“One easy action, increasing our borrowing authority, buys us time,” he said. “Time that we can use to best determine what the Postal Service should do to best serve the American public.”
Several of the lawmakers, meanwhile, focused their questions on waste and inefficiencies, asserting that the service bore responsibility for turning around its financial situation.
“I am very concerned with the caliber of service that we are getting and with the fact that the post office continues to come to us for more money,” said Representative Virginia Foxx, Republican of North Carolina.
The hearing comes about five years after the Postal Service announced a 10-year plan, called Delivering for America, to shore up its finances after losing $87 billion over 14 years. That plan has run into major obstacles as the service has continued to lose money for several years.
Although the Postal Service has received some federal relief in recent years, it generally does not receive tax dollars for operating expenses and instead relies on revenue from its sales.
The Postal Service has faced growing pressure from the White House to turn around its financial losses. President Trump has attempted to exert more control over the agency, fueling concerns over its independence.
At the oversight hearing, lawmakers repeatedly turned the question from what Congress could do for the Postal Service to what the agency could do for itself.
Representative Kweisi Mfume of Maryland, the top Democrat on the panel, emphasized that the Postal Service “should be doing everything it can under its authority to reduce cost.”
The oversight hearing was just the start of what lawmakers predict will be arduous negotiations between the Postal Service and Congress to chart the agency’s financial future.
“Mr. Mfume and I both have great confidence in the workers, the supervisors, the post masters, the management of the organization,” said Representative Pete Sessions, Republican of Texas and the chairman of the oversight subcommittee. “But we’re going to have to make tough decisions.”
Madeleine Ngo contributed reporting.
Adam Sella covers breaking news for The Times in Washington.
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