USPS owns a $2.5 billion pension pause to prevent a 2027 cash exhaustion

The U.S. Postal Service will stop making $2.5 billion in the employer pension payments for the defined benefit portion of the Federal Employees Retirement System this fiscal year. This suspension is part of a broader effort to preserve liquidity. The agency is implementing a 4.8% increase in mailing services product prices, including raising the price of First-Class Mail Forever stamps from 78 cents cents to 82 cents. These moves are the result of a sequence of and a financial crisis. The agency is prohibited by federal law from borrowing more than $15 billion from the U.S. Treasury, a limit it hit years ago. The agency depends entirely on postage and service sales to maintain operations. Mail volume has fallen from 213 billion pieces in 2006 to 109 billion pieces today, erasing roughly $81 billion in potential annual revenue. Postmaster General David Steiner stated the agency will run out of cash by 2027 if no significant changes are made. Without congressional action to expand its financial tools, the Postal Service will be unable to deliver mail within the next year.