The Postal Service needs a bailout. Congress is partly to blame.

The U.S. Postal Service needs a bailout, or at least some vision for its future after the coronavirus pandemic.

The agency is burdened by hundreds of billions of dollars in debt and falling revenue, and Congress and the White House have signaled an unwillingness to grant more funding without major restructuring, lawmakers say. Conservatives see a chance to remake the Postal Service in the image of a private corporation. Liberals want to modernize what they view as a conduit essential to connecting and unifying the nation.