Rep. Connolly: Postal Service Has No Legal Authority to Cut Mail Delivery to Five Days a Week

The U.S. Postmaster General does not have the authority to cut mail delivery service across the country from six to five days per week, according to a Government Accountability Office legal opinion requested by Northern Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-11th).

"Unfortunately, the Postmaster General continues to stonewall Members of Congress, withholding his legal justifications for eliminating Saturday delivery from Postal customers and the American public," said Connolly, a ranking member on the Subcommittee on Government Operations, in a statement. “The GAO legal opinion clearly rejects the Postal Service’s attempt to circumvent the law."

The postal service announced last month that starting Aug. 5, 2013, it would reduce mail delivery to homes and businesses from six to five days a week. USPS told the GAO that the government did not appropriate enough funds to the agency for six-day delivery, and therefore could not possibly ask operations to continue as-is.

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In February, Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe told a Senate committee that USPS was losing $25 million a day. 

"Last year, the Postal Service recorded a loss of $15.9 billion dollars," said Donahoe. "It defaulted on payments to the United States Treasury of $11.1 billion dollars... 

"At one point last October, the Postal Service had less than four days’ worth of cash on hand to fund operations. For an organization the size of the Postal Service – which has revenues of $65 billion dollars and a workforce of 495,000 career employees – that is a razor thin margin. By way of comparison, most private sector companies usually have two months of cash on hand to fund operations," said Donahoe.

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