<Tr> <Th> Revenue (2017) </Th> <Td> US $69.636 billion </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Net income (2017) </Th> <Td> US $(2.742) billion </Td> </Tr> <P> The United States Postal Service (USPS; also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service) is an independent agency of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the United States, including its insular areas and associated states . It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution . </P> <P> The U.S. Mail traces its roots to 1775 during the Second Continental Congress, when Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first postmaster general . The Post Office Department was created in 1792 from Franklin's operation, elevated to a cabinet - level department in 1872, and transformed in 1971 into the U.S. Postal Service as an independent agency . </P>

Is the postal service part of the federal government