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In May, a bipartisan collection of eight senators sent a letter to Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale detailing their concerns about the ease of the United States Post Office’s ability to spy on Americans.
Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rand Paul (R-KY) were the main authors of the May 17 letter, which was also signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Lee (R-UT), Edward Markey (D-MA), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).
A 2020 Pew survey found that the Post Office was the most trusted federal institution—certainly its reputation is tidier than the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or FBI’s. Its most obvious flaw is the trite stand-up comedy observation that it operates slowly.