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The United States Postal Service will be forced to implement major cuts to retail branches and other services unless Congress intervenes, its chief warned on Tuesday amid widening losses and an ongoing funds crisis.
The agency reported a net loss of $6.5 billion for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, compared to a $9 billion net loss the previous year.
"We will need to make drastic changes in the number of Post offices and marketing mail service levels, and we will need to look at other areas to generate the cash we need to meet our obligations to our employees and to the American public," Postmaster General David Steiner said at a meeting on Tuesday.
In June, Steiner requested more funding during an appearance before lawmakers.
"The bottom line is that we are out of cash. We are borrowing from our employees’ retirement funds to continue operations," Steiner's written testimony before a U.S. Senate committee said, warning the agency could run out of operating cash within months without deferred obligations.
"The Postal Service has a broken business model and action is needed by Congress to fix it."
Steiner wants Congress to compensate the agency for money-losing operations and institute broader reforms.
