Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2021-02-08)

P O L I T I C S

55

34

PHOTO

ILLUSTRATION

BY

731;

PHOTO:

ALAMY.

DATA:

USPS

BloombergBusinessweek February 8, 2021

Edited by

Amanda Kolson Hurley

● ThebeleagueredU.S.Postal

Serviceneedsa champion.

EnterJoeBiden

aidtotheagencyjustasitsemployees were being

ravagedbyCovid-19,andfalselyaccused postal

workersofseekingtocorrupttheelectoral process

bysellingmail-inballots.

Soyoucanimaginethereliefamongtherank

andfileattheUSPSonJan.20,whenTrumpexited

theWhiteHouseandwasreplacedbyJoeBiden.

PresidentBidenexpressedadmirationandsupport

forthelong-neglectedUSPSbeforetheelectionand

is likelytobeitsstrongestsupporterindecades.And

if evertherewasa federalagencyinneedofa cham-

pion,it’sthePostalService,whichsuffereda netloss

of$9billionlastyearasit struggledwithpandemic-

relatedabsencesanddeliverydelays, and faces the

continuingthreatofdwindlingmail volume.

George Washington believed mail service

wouldplaya keypartinshapingthenational

consciousness. Woodrow Wilson’s administration

pioneered airmail. Franklin Roosevelt thought of

post offices as hallowed public spaces. He helped

design six in upstate New York towns; you can still

buy stamps at most of them.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, called the U.S.

Postal Service “a joke,” vetoed billions of dollars in

Priority Mail