Trump considers privatizing US Postal Service, Washington Post reports By Reuters

(Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has expressed strong interest in privatizing the U.S. Postal Service in recent weeks, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

The US Postal Service, which has lost more than $100 billion since 2007, reported a net loss of $9.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, up $3 billion from last year, largely due to with an annual increase of – cash workers’ compensation expenses.

When told about the agency’s annual losses, Trump said the government should not subsidize the organization, the Washington Post reported.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, discussed his desire to privatize the postal service at Mar-a-Lago with Howard Lutnick, his choice for commerce secretary, the report said.

People who will work in the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, have also had preliminary conversations about major USPS changes, the report said, citing two other people familiar with the matter.

A USPS spokeswoman said the company has reduced operations by 45 million man-hours and reduced transportation costs by $2 billion over the past three years.

The agency is also seeking regulatory approval to modernize its mail handling and transportation network to meet modern practices, which would save $3.6 billion to $3.7 billion annually, the spokeswoman added.

“No policy should be considered official unless it comes directly from President Trump or his authorized spokespeople,” said Carolyn Levitt, a spokeswoman for Trump’s transition team.

Any attempt to privatize the Postal Service could disrupt the e-commerce industry in the U.S., the Washington Post said, including Amazon ( NASDAQ: ), which uses the USPS for “last mile” delivery to Amazon’s fulfillment centers and customers. It could also hurt small businesses and rural consumers who use the postal service because it is the only carrier to deliver to remote corners of the country.

Amazon recently announced that it is donating $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund and will air his inauguration on its Prime Video service.

Trump had a strained relationship with the postal service. Its transition team is considering canceling service contracts to electrify its delivery fleet, sources told Reuters.

According to the sources, the team is reviewing how it can liquidate the service’s multibillion-dollar contracts, including with Oshkosh ( NYSE: ) and Ford ( NYSE: ) for tens of thousands of battery-powered delivery trucks and charging stations.

In 2020, Congress authorized the Treasury Department to provide up to $10 billion to the Postal Service as part of a $2.3 trillion coronavirus stimulus package that Trump had threatened to block.