(Reuters) – US President-elect Donald Trump has expressed a strong desire to overhaul the US Postal Service in recent weeks, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing three people familiar with the matter.
The US Post Office, which has lost more than a billion dollars since 2007, reported a loss of $9.5 billion for its fiscal year ending Sept. an increase in the compensation of non-financial workers.
When told about the organization’s annual losses, Mr. Trump said the government should not give the organization money, according to the Washington Post.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, discussed his desire to put the Secret Service in private with Howard Lutnick, his choice for secretary of commerce, at Mar-a-Lago, the report said.
People who will work at the Department of State Development, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, have held preliminary talks about major changes at USPS, the report said, citing two people familiar with the matter.
A USPS spokesperson said that over the past three years, the company has reduced its operations by 45 million man-hours, and reduced its shipping costs by $2 million.
The agency is also seeking approval to upgrade its mail design and transportation network to modern standards, which will save between $300,000 and $330,000 a year, the spokesperson added.
Trump’s transition team did not respond to requests for comment on the report.
Any attempt to economicize the Postal Service could affect the e-commerce industry in the US, the Washington Post said, including Amazon, which uses the USPS for “last mile” delivery between Amazon’s fulfillment centers and customers. It could also hurt small businesses and rural customers who use the Postal Service, as it is the only carrier that delivers to remote corners of the country.
Amazon recently said it was donating $1 million to Trump’s campaign fund and will show his inauguration on its Prime Video service.
Trump has had a difficult relationship with the Postal Service. Sources told Reuters that his transition team is considering ending contracts for work on electrifying its cargo ships.
According to sources, the team is exploring how to cancel multibillion-dollar service contracts, including with Oshkosh and Ford, for tens of thousands of battery-powered trucks and charging stations.
In 2020, Congress authorized the Treasury Department to lend the Postal Service up to $10 billion as part of the $230 million coronavirus relief package, which Trump threatened to shut down.
(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Douglas Gillison in Washington; Editing by Frances Kerry, Daniel Wallis and Diane Craft)