Trump revives post office privatization push to avoid bailout
“The Congress shall have Power To establish Post Offices and post Roads,” the postal clause states. That constitutional authority to establish post offices has often been interpreted as a mandate for the government to also run the USPS. But “nothing in the Constitution forbids Congress from privatizing the Postal Service,” Kevin Kosar, vice president of policy for the R Street Institute, told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Parts of the mail delivery system have been outsourced to private firms since the beginning of the country, Kosar said.
“Tavern owners have served as postmasters, steam boat owners had contracts to carry mail, and today private companies haul and fly mail,” he said. “The Constitution merely authorizes Congress to establish post offices and postal roads. It does not require government to own or operate postal operations. Indeed, the famed Pony Express of the 19th century was a private company.”
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Parts of the mail delivery system have been outsourced to private firms since the beginning of the country, Kosar said.
“Tavern owners have served as postmasters, steam boat owners had contracts to carry mail, and today private companies haul and fly mail,” he said. “The Constitution merely authorizes Congress to establish post offices and postal roads. It does not require government to own or operate postal operations. Indeed, the famed Pony Express of the 19th century was a private company.”
