Article 1, Section 8 says that [The Congress shall have the power] to establish Post Offices and Post Roads. Nor does it require that the mail be delivered by an agent of the federal government to every home in the country, six days a week.

When the Constitution was ratified in 1789, the Postal Clause in Article I, Section 8 gave Congress the power “To establish Post Offices and post Roads” and “To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper” for executing this task.

Answer: Article 1, Section 8 clause 7 of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to establish post offices and post roads. These delegated powers are often referred to as the “enumerated” or “expressed” powers. So the post office is in the Constitution, but it’s not exactly mandated or defined.

The United States Postal Service (USPS; also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service) is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the United States, including its insular areas and associated states.

In 1971, Congress replaced the Department with the United States Postal Service, an independent entity within the executive branch. A separate Postal Regulatory Commission with five members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate oversees the USPS, including the rates it charges.

O’Keefe says that the USPS is “enshrined in the Constitution.” It’s true that Article 1, Section 8 says: The U.S. Constitution, in 1789, authorized Congress to establish “Post Offices and post Roads” but, unlike the Articles of Confederation, did not explicitly establish an exclusive monopoly.