$118 billion — the cumulative losses the U.S. Postal Service has recorded since 2007 — is a number most policymakers can cite from memory. What is harder to process is what USPS is now telling Congress directly: at the current trajectory, the agency will run out of cash entirely within 12 months.
On 9 April 2026, USPS announced the suspension of all contributions to the Federal Employees Retirement System pension plan. Simultaneously, it filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission to raise the price of a First-Class Forever stamp by 4 cents, from 73 to 77 cents. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy sent a formal warning letter to Congressional leaders the same day, making the cash horizon explicit.
The financial picture is acute. Net loss in FY2025 reached $9 billion; FY2024 losses totalled $9.5 billion; Q1 2026 added another $1.3 billion. The FERS contribution pause is projected to save approximately $2.5 billion through 30 September 2026 — enough to stabilise near-term liquidity, but not to address the underlying revenue problem. Mail volume has collapsed from a historic peak of 213 billion pieces annually in 2006 to approximately 109 billion today, according to USPS annual reports — the lowest level since the late 1960s and less than half the peak-year volume.
“Net loss in FY2025 reached $9 billion; FY2024 losses totalled $9.5 billion; Q1 2026 added another $1.3 billion.”
