Let's review some major points about the USPS (more about this on the Nightly Nuance).

We've had a postal service longer than we've had a Constitution, and the Constitution explicitly empowers Congress to establish a post office and postal roads. I really want to emphasize this point: whatever the path forward, Congress is going to have to be part of the solution.

The Postal Department was an agency under the executive branch and was Cabinet-level for a long time. Things deteriorated. Postal workers had enough and went on strike during the Nixon administration. This was a huge deal.

The strike ended after 8 days of negotiation. No one got fired over it (I know this is impossible to believe in 2020). And we got a reform bill that created the USPS and the power of collective bargaining (but not strike) for postal workers

Now, the USPS is an independent establishment under the executive branch. Meaning: Congress has enormous power over it, it is owned by the American people, it doesn't pay taxes, and it gets ZERO tax dollars to support its operations.

In 2006, Congress made things exceptionally difficult for the USPS. It required USPS, over ten years, to prepay pension and health benefits for retirees and allowed it to do so with investments in US Treasury bonds (no corporate bonds).

Then came a recession and EMAIL taking over the world. But USPS continued to hang in. It covers its operating expenses. Its struggling because of that prepayment requirement.

Now, mail is being sent at about 1/3 the rate that it was this time last year. The USPS is sending it's workers out to deliver medical supplies, among other things, and they're getting sick. Nineteen have died. And bc it relies on sales to operate, it's in a very bad spot

USPS got some money under the CARES Act. Its leadership days it needs more to the tune of billions. We aren't sure exactly why. USPS is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.

What we do know: USPS employs a LOT of people, including a lot of veterans and a plurality of postal workers are people of color. It has more retail locations than McDs + Starbucks + Walmart. And it binds together a nation that can feel hopelessly fractured.

There are people who want to privatize it and people who want to nationalize Amazon to "save it" and people (ahem, a person, who happens to be President) who want to use it to punish Amazon.

Whatever happens, Congress needs to act. It needs to at minimum forgive some debt and loosen some restrictions and get some money appropriated to help USPS through this... this...now.

The USPS is important. Even as we try to reduce paper and transit, even as we realize the Restoration Hardware catalog doesn't really need to weigh 18 pounds, even as we ship and do less. It matters. And it should be everywhere, reliably. Otherwise, so much falls apart.