U.S. Reps. James Comer (R-KY), Patrick McHenry (R-NC), and Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) recently forwarded correspondence to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, stating that the United States Postal Service (USPS) overstepped its statutory authority by extending the postal banking pilot program.
“On or around April 1, 2022, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) extended an unsuccessful pilot program for check cashing services,” wrote the legislators, all members of the Committee on Oversight and Reform. “The pilot program—which allows customers to cash payroll and business checks up to $500—was launched in September 2021 without approval from Congress or the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC).”
The lawmakers said the postal banking pilot program violated long-standing prohibitions preventing USPS from offering or developing new non-postal products and proved unpopular over four months.
“The failure of the pilot program demonstrates that consumers are not interested in banking with the federal government, including USPS,” the legislators wrote. “That is why Congress specifically prevented taxpayer funds from being used for USPS pilot programs for non-banking financial services in the recently enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022. Furthermore, Congress did not expand the offering of financial services in the recent Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 (H.R. 3076).”