Lawmakers must restore the Postal Police Force’s authority to patrol beyond postal facilities and serve as a visible deterrent against postal crime, writes the author. Image: Karolis Kavolelis/Shutterstock.com
By: Frank Albergo, Postal Police Officers AssociationThe U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) is a constitutional anomaly — an independent federal agency wielding vast law enforcement power without direct Department of Justice or Executive Branch oversight.
In Humphrey’s Executor v. United States (1935), the Supreme Court approved a limited vision of independent federal agencies: entities exercising quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial functions, shielded from presidential control under narrow circumstances. But a federal law enforcement agency — with the power to surveil, to arrest, and to use force — was never meant to operate outside the President’s direct supervision. That principle is rooted in Article II of the Constitution, which charges the President with the responsibility to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”
USPIS flouts this constitutional framework. Its Postal Inspectors (self-styled “special agents” operating nationwide) routinely conduct surveillance, seize property, and execute arrests — often in cases far removed from the protection of the Postal Service — without presidential control. Programs like the now-infamous Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP), which secretly monitored and collected Americans’ social media posts, epitomize USPIS mission creep and jurisdictional overreach. USPIS has even tried to mask its activities by rebranding iCOP as the “Analytics Program,” but its surveillance mission remains unchanged. This is not merely bureaucratic drift — it is a profound violation of constitutional principles.
Now, USPIS is pushing to expand its reach even further. H.R. 170, the “USPS Subpoena Authority Act,” would grant the agency administrative subpoena power — allowing it to compel the production of private documents or testimony without prior judicial approval. Administrative subpoenas may have a role in regulatory investigations, but when placed in the hands of a rogue law enforcement agency untethered from the Executive Branch, they pose a direct threat to Fourth Amendment protections and the separation of powers. Without external review, USPIS investigations could easily become tools of fishing expeditions, political targeting, or privacy intrusions. (See the USPIS arrest of Steve Bannon and the recent immigration raid of a Colorado nightclub where more than 100 migrants were arrested.)
The Supreme Court has consistently reaffirmed that law enforcement authority must be accountable to the Executive. In Myers v. United States (1926) and later in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (2010), the Court emphasized that executive functions — especially investigative and enforcement powers — demand presidential control to maintain democratic legitimacy.
Yet today, Postal Inspectors exercise extraordinary powers without the kind of oversight that applies to the FBI, DEA, or other federal law enforcement entities. Housed within the Postal Service — an “independent establishment” under 39 U.S.C. § 201 — USPIS operates in a constitutional gray zone, one Congress never fully anticipated and one the Framers would not have accepted. Ultimately, USPIS is a relic of the old Post Office Department — but now armed with modern law enforcement powers that far exceed anything the Founders intended.
Worse still, the current configuration of the Inspection Service — where higher-paid but less effective Postal Inspectors outnumber uniformed Postal Police Officers by a lopsided three-to-one margin — is not only fiscally wasteful; it has also compromised the very security USPIS was created to protect. This misallocation of resources has not only failed to safeguard the Postal Service — it has made the Inspection Service yet another bloated extension of the administrative state, one growing in scope without accountability or clear purpose.
The consequences of this structural failure are striking. Assaults and robberies of letter carriers are skyrocketing. Mail theft is surging across the country. Yet USPIS, while expanding its investigative powers, has dramatically curtailed the jurisdiction of its own Postal Police Officers, limiting them to postal properties — leaving workers and the U.S. Mail dangerously exposed.
This contradiction — hoarding investigative authority while abandoning frontline protection — is not only dangerous; it reveals an agency that has lost sight of its mission. In effect, USPIS seeks the full investigative power of a federal law enforcement agency without accepting the operational responsibilities that come with it. It is the worst of both worlds: maximal power, minimal responsibility.
Congress Must Act
Congress must act now. First, it must restructure the Inspection Service to ensure that its law enforcement functions are directly tied to protecting the Postal Service — not duplicating the work of other federal agencies. Second, lawmakers must restore the Postal Police Force’s authority to patrol beyond postal facilities and serve as a visible deterrent against postal crime. Third, Congress should reject H.R. 170 and prevent USPIS from obtaining unchecked subpoena powers. Finally — and most importantly — Congress must reassert constitutional discipline over a law enforcement agency currently operating without it.
USPIS cannot have it both ways. It cannot continue to demand sweeping investigative powers while shirking its basic duty to protect postal workers and secure the nation’s mail. By dismantling its uniformed Postal Police Force, USPIS has undermined both its legitimacy and its purpose. If Congress does not act soon, the Inspection Service will not simply be another bloated federal agency; it will be a real and growing threat to public trust, civil liberties, and the future of the U.S. Postal Service.
Frank Albergo is the current national president of the Postal Police Officers Association (PPOA). The PPOA represents uniformed police officers employed by the United States Postal Inspection Service.
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