U.S. Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and James Comer (R-KY) forwarded correspondence last week to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy expressing concerns regarding a United States Postal Service (USPS) pilot program offering paycheck-cashing services.
McHenry, ranking member of the House Committee on Financial Services, and Comer, ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, sent the letter following the initiation of the service at several East Coast USPS locations.
The lawmakers said USPS does not possess statutory authority to expand non-postal services without congressional approval and failed to share pilot program information with Congress.
“During the lengthy negotiations, you never once raised the Postal Service’s intention to expand into banking services,” the legislators wrote. “The Postal Service’s 60-page reform plan, called Delivering for America: Our Vision and Ten-Year Plan to Achieve Financial Sustainability and Service Excellence, similarly omits any reference to postal banking. Again, on Feb. 24, 2021, when you testified before the Committee at a hearing entitled Legislative Proposals to Put the Postal Service on Sustainable Financial Footing, you never mentioned the prospect that the Postal Service might veer into the financial services industry.”
The lawmakers have requested a briefing and any information involving the planning and implementation of the new program.
“Last year, the Postal Service incurred a net loss of $9.2 billion,” the legislators concluded. “This is consistent with a trend of losses that aggregate to more than $87 billion over the past 14 fiscal years. A massive cybersecurity breach exposed social security numbers and other sensitive data for millions of USPS customers and employees. It is unclear why the Postal Service believes itself to be ready for the added responsibility of offering expanded financial services.”