With all the recent media attention paid to the US Postal Service, I have seen myriad misconceptions and misinformation about it proliferating over our beloved Interwebs. Over at Fox News, former Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz propagates some of both in a recent Opinion piece (apparently trying to absolve the President of any blame for recent controversial decisions affecting the USPS by explaining that he is not really in charge and can't be held responsible for these measures - which is a bunch of hooey), not to be outdone by his partner in propaganda, Tucker Carlson. To help y'all place the debate raging around mail-in voting (which, despite the President's protestations, is the same thing as absentee balloting, protected by the same security measures - to be covered in tomorrow's RPANS entry), this essay provides an overview of the history of the USPS, an outline of its operations, and other important information about its organization.
The USPS is one of very few government agencies covered in the US Constitution, in Article I, Section 8, Clause 7, though the origins of the Postal Service actually predate the Constitution, with Benjamin Franklin having been appointed as the first Postmaster General in the Second Continental Congress. The Postal Service Act of 1792 established the Post Office Department, which was elevated to the cabinet in 1872, then transformed into its current incarnation as an independent federal agency of the executive branch with the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970. So, the USPS is neither a direct executive branch department (like, say, the NSA or Interior Department), nor a government owned corporation (such as Amtrak).
The USPS operates under a universal service obligation, outlined both in statute and the organization's mission statement, and is the only organization authorized to deliver first-class mail (e.g., personal letters) and to access US Mail boxes. The Postal Service is a massive operation, employing more than 630,000 people (about 490,000 career and 136,000 non-career personnel), maintaining a fleet of 225,000+ vehicles, and processing more than 142 billion pieces of mail annually, which represents 48% of global mail deliveries. It is governed by an 11-member Board, each appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. One of the Board members is the Postmaster General, who is elected by the Board itself. Oversight is provided by the USPS Inspector General, who is also elected by and sits on the Board. The Service frequently generated a positive operating margin until the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 required it to fund, over just ten years, the net present value of 75 years' worth of future earned retirement obligations (that's right, it had to fund retirement obligations for employees who haven't yet been hired...or even born!).
The current, and recently appointed, Postmaster General is Louis Dejoy, a longtime Republican Party operative and enthusiastic donor. Dejoy was the President's handpicked choice for the job, and is the first Postmaster General in nearly two decades to assume the position with no prior experience at the USPS. Further, he has several conflicts of interest, including a $30-$75 million equity stake in XPO Logistics, a USPS subcontractor, and significant stock options in Amazon, a high-volume customer of the USPS (which relationship, despite the President's protestations to the contrary, is actually profitable for the USPS). Dejoy has recently initiated numerous controversial changes in Postal Service operations, suspiciously timed just prior to an election that will depend heavily on the USPS to process an anticipated high volume of mail-in ballots. These changes prompted sufficient furor (including promised litigation from at least 20 US States) that Dejoy has announced they will be delayed until after the election.
Hopefully this primer provides sufficient context to understand the scope and nature of the controversy regarding mail-in balloting and the election, which will be covered thoroughly in tomorrow's RPANS entry, including a detailed rebuttal to the misleading opinions expressed at Fox by Mssrs. Chaffetz and Carlson.