The recommendation is part of a sweeping plan to reorganize and trim the size of the federal government. The broader plan, which would require congressional approval, drew mixed responses on Capitol Hill after it was released late last week.

The proposed postal reforms come as shifts in the way people communicate and shop are straining delivery networks created decades earlier to deliver mail across the country. President Donald Trump has launched a task force to review finances and operations at the agency, which has been losing money for years.

Privatizing the Postal Service would provide greater freedom to raise prices and negotiate pay and benefits, according to the White House’s proposal. A private postal operator could cut costs by delivering mail fewer days a week and to more centralized locations, it said, and give the agency access to private capital to fund operational improvements.

The Postal Service has been lobbying for freedom to raise prices and asking Congress to pass legislation to ease some of the burdens of its workers’ retirement benefits. On Thursday, Postmaster General Megan Brennan said she would continue to work with the President and Congress to revamp the agency’s “flawed business model” but it would be up to Congress to determine whether privatizing the agency was the best course.

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