USPS Controversy

In the past few weeks, there has been a great deal of controversy in the news about the United States Postal Service (USPS), for which President Donald Trump wishes to diminish funding. For some, the USPS, a government service for delivering mail and packages, is the only mail carrier that will deliver to their area if they are rural or far from main towns and cities. According to the Cable News Network (CNN), Trump wants to do this because he fears a high number of mail-in votes or absentee ballots in the upcoming election. This has sparked more suspicion from people in the media claiming he is trying to use the post office for personal gain and better results for him in the election. Trump claims the mail-in ballots are fraudulent, meaning he believes that a large amount of mail in ballots would lead to voter fraud and harm his reelection.

As high schoolers, we may not think about the post office and therefore not realize its significance, but many people rely on it for their livelihood. Because the USPS is a government service, not a private corporation, it is the only mail/package company that is required to deliver to all areas. In other words, if FedEx had a package to deliver in a rural area but was going to lose money from it, the package would be passed on to the USPS. Many living in these areas rely on the USPS to deliver their bills, medication, and many other things needed to survive.

Additionally, Trump says he wants to pull funding for the post office because of the money it loses every year, according to CNN. While this would be a problem for a private company, the USPS is a government service created for the people, and a government service’s priorities should not be to make money, but to serve the people and provide the service they were created for. The USPS was simply designed to deliver parcels and letters to the people of the United States, and it should remain that way for the people who rely on its services.