Senator Scott, Colleagues Denounce U.S. Postal Service’s ‘Misguided’ Banking Expansion

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) joined Senator John Boozman (R-AR) and Republican colleagues in calling a new U.S. Postal Service (USPS) pilot program a threat to mail delivery and a misguided attempt to federalize financial services.

In a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the senators raised questions about USPS’ authority to implement a banking pilot program that includes check-cashing services.

“We are concerned that the pilot program exceeds the Postal Service’s legal authority and fails to comply with relevant regulations and procedural requirements,” members wrote in the letter.

The Postal Service launched its postal banking pilot program in September without notifying Congress. It comes on the heels of losses of more than $75 billion from 2007-2019. Last month the USPS announced it will further slow service and increase prices in attempt to fix its own notoriously poor financial footing.

“Given that these losses occurred during a period of time in which the Postal Service was exclusively focused on mail delivery, it would be imprudent to shift attention and resources toward an area in which the agency lacks expertise. It is essential that the Postal Service address this revenue shortfall by focusing on fixing inefficiencies with its mail delivery system, not pivoting to financial products and offerings with which the agency has no expertise,” members continued. 

Cosigners of the letter include Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Rob Portman (R-OH), Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-PA), Senate Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee Ranking Member Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Mike Braun (R-IN), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Bill Hagerty (R-TN),  John Kennedy (R-LA), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), Jim Risch (R-ID), John Thune (R-SD) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).

Full text of the letter is available here. 

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