Louis DeJoy was tapped to lead the US Postal Service during President Donald Trump’s first term
INSIDE DOGE: Behind the mission to cut waste
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy resigned from his position on Monday, nearly two weeks after agreeing to allow Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to right-size the Postal Service budget.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) Board confirmed that Monday would be his last day, also noting that Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino had been tapped to take over until a permanent replacement is selected by the board.
“After nearly five years as America’s 75th Postmaster General, and after informing the Governors in February of my intention to retire, I have today informed the Postal Service Board of Governors that today will be my last day in this role,” DeJoy said in a statement. “I believe strongly that the organization is well positioned and capable of carrying forward and fully implementing the many strategies and initiatives that comprise our transformation and modernization, and I have been working closely with the Deputy Postmaster General to prepare for this transition.”
He continued, saying he had no doubt the Postal Service will “aggressively shape its future and become more efficient, capable, and competitive” while it continues to evolve and improve how it serves the American public.
POSTMASTER GENERAL LOUIS DEJOY STEPPING DOWN AMID US POSTAL SERVICE FINANCIAL TURMOIL
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy listens to a question during an interview with Reuters at the U.S. Postal Service Headquarters in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2022. Picture taken April 20, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis (REUTERS/Leah Millis / Reuters)
DeJoy, who was appointed during President Donald Trump’s first term, notified the board of governors that it was time to find a suitable successor last week, as the USPS tries to recover from hundreds of billions of dollars in predicted losses within the next decade.
The Postal Service moved in January to cut 10,000 jobs through an early retirement offer to eligible workers.
In a letter to Congress earlier this month, DeJoy lamented that the Postal Service has a “broken business model that was not financially sustainable without critically necessary and core change.”
“Fixing a broken organization that had experienced close to $100 billion in losses and was projected to lose another $200 billion, without a bankruptcy proceeding, is a daunting task,” DeJoy wrote. “Fixing a heavily legislated and overly regulated organization as massive, important, cherished, misunderstood and debated as the United States Postal Service, with such a broken business model, is even more difficult.”
CONGRESS ADDRESSES UPTICK IN POSTAL CARRIER ROBBERIES THROUGH NEW LEGISLATION TARGETING SAFETY
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy listens to a question during an interview with Reuters at the U.S. Postal Service Headquarters in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2022. Picture taken April 20, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis (REUTERS/Leah Millis / Reuters)
DOGE will assist USPS with addressing “big problems” at the $78 billion-a-year agency, which has sometimes struggled in recent years to stay afloat. The agreement aims to help the Postal Service identify and achieve “further efficiencies.”
United States Postal Service Chair Amber McReynolds said Monday that the governors appreciated DeJoy’s leadership and tireless efforts to modernize the Postal Service as he attempted to reverse decades of neglect.
“Louis is a fighter, and he has fought hard for the women and men of the Postal Service and to ensure that the American people have reliable and affordable service for years to come. I commend Postmaster General DeJoy for inspiring the Postal Service with strategic direction, a competitive spirit, and a culture of achievement that comes from the successful implementation of large-scale change,” McReynolds said. “I have seen this spirit of purpose grow steadily during my time on the Board of Governors, and I am confident it will continue to grow as progress begets further progress, and the promise of a transformed and modernized Postal Service is fully realized.”
DeJoy was tapped to lead the agency in 2020, during a time of “tremendous operational and financial crisis” for the Postal Service, a news release said.
MASSACHUSETTS USPS LETTER CARRIER ROBBED WHILE DELIVERING MAIL IN NEIGHBORHOOD, TEENS ARRESTED
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy poses for a portrait in his office at the U.S. Postal Service Headquarters in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2022. Picture taken April 20, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis (REUTERS/Leah Millis / Reuters)
USPS currently employs about 640,000 workers tasked with making deliveries, from inner cities to rural areas and even far-flung islands.
The service plans to cut 10,000 employees in the next 30 days through a voluntary early-retirement program announced in January, according to the letter.
The agency previously announced plans to cut its operating costs by more than $3.5 billion annually. And this isn’t the first time thousands of employees have been cut. In 2021, the agency cut 30,000 workers.
As the service, which has operated as an independent entity since 1970, has struggled to balance the books with the decline of first-class mail, it has fought calls from Trump and others that it be privatized.
Last month, Trump said he may put USPS under the control of the Department of Commerce in what would be an executive branch takeover.
