The successor to the Post Office Department, the USPS was established by the Postal Reorganization Act of July 1, 1971, as an independent, self-supporting federal agency within the executive branch.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an "independent establishment of the executive branch" of the United States Government (see ) responsible for providing postal service in the United States. Within the United States, it is colloquially referred to simply as "the post office."