U.S. Postal Service is now privately owned. Who owns it?

Question

I have asked before, but people keep telling me the government owns the post office. The postal employees tell me that it is no longer a governmental agency. I have also been told by other people that it is privately owned. I want to know who to contact OVER the people a complaint will go to from their website. What company or corporation do the postal offices report to?

Answer 1

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an "independent establishment of the executive branch" of the United States Government (see 39 U.S.C. § 201) responsible for providing postal service in the United States. Within the United States, it is generally referred to as "the post office."

The USPS is often mistaken for a government-owned corporation (e.g. Amtrak), but as noted above is legally defined as an "independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States,"[cite this quote] as it is wholly owned by the government and controlled by the Presidential appointees and the Postmaster General. As a quasi-governmental agency, it has many special privileges, including sovereign immunity, eminent domain powers, powers to negotiate postal treaties with foreign nations, and an exclusive legal right to deliver first-class and third-class mail.

Answer 2

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U.S. Postal Service is now privately owned. Who owns it?
I have asked before, but people keep telling me the government owns the post office. The postal employees tell me that it is no longer a governmental agency. I have also been told by other people that it is privately owned. I want to know who to contact OVER the people a complaint will go to...

Answer 3

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The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1971 as an "independent establishment of the executive branch", responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution. While officially known as the "U.S. Postal Service," despite the passage of nearly 40 years the public still colloquially refer to it as the "Post Office" or "U.S. Mail".

Answer 4

EEagleness has some good info.

Pat V doesn't have it right.

It is a quasi government agency, part of the executive branch.

The major reform under Pres. Nixon transfered it's powers from being totally tied in with the U.S. government, to something of a separate agency which relies solely on it's revenue from the issuance of stamps and other retail products.

It was once tied into the government budget, thereby deriving it's source of revenue from the taxpayer.

Foreign Postal Services are unique in that they can do many other services like banking or insurance. The Japanese Postal Service is one of that country's largest businesses.

In America, the U.S.P.S. would rank in the top ten of the major corporations, moving in excess of two hundred billion pieces of mail per year and having revenue in excess of a hundred billion dollars per year.

The United States Congress at times uses legislation to get Postal Funds manipulated for other purposes. Since it stands alone in producing it's own revenue, this becomes a critical subject and open to debate between the service and the government.

Bear in mind, the United States government hasn't balanced a budget for decades, and only under the Clinton administration has some fiscal discipline been attempted with some success.

If everyone ran their households like the United States government, practically everyone would be bankrupt.

The U.S.P.S. has been utilizing many of the latest technology in attempting to get mail better handled and into the hands of the American public more efficiently. These have been costly and to date not many of the technologies are better than man power. Sometimes technology has disastrous results.

Highly trained and dedicated Postal Letter Carriers do an exceptional job at delivering the United States mail under (sometimes) severe circumstances. Without those three hundred thousand employees, the mail would never get to the public in an orderly manner. This fact is taken for granted by Postal management in trying to equate these jobs with other similar jobs in the private sector.

Answer 5

Unbelievable! There is no direct source until you end up at some branch of government. You can say "independent establishment" all you want, but she finishes up with "OF the EXECUTIVE BRANCH" of the United States GOVERNMENT! DUH! The executive branch is GOVERNMENT! They have just tried to do their little dance with words, spinning it to where it sounds like any other private, independently owned, business. It is not! It also explains why it has so many problems, like anything else tied to an overgrown, out of control government. So if you want to complain, good luck, you are facing the government with a complaint in the end and you should know how futile that is.

Answer 6

USPS is essentially a business run by the government (although not officially declared). By transferring the post office out from under the thumb of the executive branch, Nixon moved the revenue out of reach thereby protecting it from the nation's budget issues.

Answer 7

The post office is an independently run unit of the Federal government. It is run by a board of governance with presidential appointees and one appointed by the appointees themselves.

Although the USPS is independent, it is still accountable to congress.

Answer 8

check your local town tax office !!! It will list who owns it or if it is leased !

Answer 9

The U.S.P.S has outside contracts for certain services. But the "taxpayer" still "owns" it.

As for complaining, they here it all the time. They have never, ever guaranteed delivery on anything, but almost always deliver what's posted.

www.usps.gov is their website. Remember, every time you tie up the postal service on something like this, you're footing the bill...

Answer 10

Read eeglesnes answer. He is correct. Go to the USPS site and lodge your complaint, whatever it may be.