The novel coronavirus pandemic has left a tremendous number of businesses across the country

without the revenue they're used to.

For the United States Postal Service, its losses in revenue both from the pandemic and long

pre-dating it present a different kind of challenge.

See, the Postal Service isn't a private company.

It's a federal agency, so the ways to solve its financial problems are mercier.

While Congress has stepped in to include a $10 billion loan to the Postal Service in

the Cares Act relief package, the service has not yet seen that money.

Last week, President Trump threatened to block that $10 billion loan unless the Postal

Service dramatically raised shipping prices on online retailers.

Trump has urged the Postal Service to raise prices since long before the coronavirus began.

His latest move, though, the threat to block the agency's loan reflects an unprecedented

attempt to seize control of this agency, notably America's most popular government agency,

according to the Pew Research Center.

Meanwhile, time is running out.

The Postal Service projects it could lose $23 billion over the next 18 months.

So can the President withhold money from a federal agency until it complies with his

requests?

And how are things different for the Postal Service that's tasked with operating from

its own revenue and not from federal dollars?

Plus, as we head toward the November election in an era of social distancing, what might

financial strain at the Postal Service mean for America's access to mail-in ballots?

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