WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Postal Service is considering raising the price of a First-Class stamp to 95 cents as the agency warns it could run out of operating cash within a year without major changes.
Postmaster General David Steiner issued the warning during a congressional hearing this week, saying the Postal Service faces unprecedented financial challenges driven by declining mail volume and rising costs.
“At our current run rate, if we continue to meet our obligations as we have in recent years, we will be out of cash in less than 12 months,” Steiner told lawmakers. “Less than a year from now, the Postal Service will be unable to deliver mail if we maintain the status quo.”
The proposed increase would raise the price of a First-Class stamp from the current 78 cents — a nearly 23% jump. Steiner argued the U.S. still has the lowest stamp prices among industrialized nations, noting that similar postage in France costs nearly $3 and in the United Kingdom about $2.50.
“We deliver from the tip of Puerto Rico to the tip of Alaska for 78 cents — a distance of 5,000 miles,” Steiner said. “In other nations, mail travels just a few hundred miles and costs several times more.”
Steiner said raising the price of stamps to between 90 and 95 cents could significantly reduce the agency’s losses.
The Postal Service, which operates largely on its own revenue through postage and packaging services, has about a $78 billion annual budget. It is several years into a 10-year reorganization and cost-cutting plan that launched in 2021 under former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who stepped down in 2025.
Steiner, who took office in July after serving as CEO of Waste Management Inc. and as a FedEx board member, also urged Congress to consider raising the Postal Service’s borrowing limits to help stabilize operations.
