US Postal Service chief Louis DeJoy steps down, after Trump calls agency ‘tremendous loser’

WASHINGTON – Postmaster general Louis DeJoy, who led efforts to restructure the money-losing US Postal Service (USPS) for nearly five years, has resigned effective immediately, the agency said on March 24.

Mr DeJoy, a former logistics executive and major Republican political donor who took over in 2020, had clashed with lawmakers over reforms at the agency that has lost more than US$100 billion (S$133.85 billion) since 2007.

Republican President Donald Trump, who in February called the agency a “tremendous loser for this country”, said he was considering merging the Postal Service with the Commerce Department, a move Democrats said would violate federal law.

Mr DeJoy said earlier in March that he had asked the government efficiency team led by Mr Elon Musk for assistance with a number of issues and signed an agreement on reform assistance.

Mr DeJoy in February said he had asked the Postal Service governing board to identify his successor but had given no indication that he planned to step down abruptly.

Mr Musk said in March that he thought USPS should be privatised.

“Much work remains that is necessary to sustain our positive trajectory,” Mr DeJoy said in a statement, adding that March 24 was his last day on the job and that deputy postmaster general Doug Tulino will head the agency until the postal board names a permanent successor. They have hired a search firm, he added.

Democratic lawmakers for years called for Mr DeJoy to be fired but agreed to give USPS US$50 billion in financial relief in 2022.

In May, Mr DeJoy agreed to pause planned further consolidation of the USPS processing network after senators raised concerns about the impact on mail deliveries.

Mr DeJoy has led an effort to dramatically restructure USPS over the last five years, including cutting forecast cumulative losses over a decade to US$80 billion from US$160 billion even as mail volumes fell to the lowest level since 1968.

The outgoing postal chief has used tactics similar to the Mr Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency team,

including shrinking the workforce and cancelling or renegotiating contracts

.

Two media outlets reported in February that Mr Trump was preparing to issue an executive order to fire the USPS’s board of governors.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said the Postal Service could help shrink the department’s costs by providing workers to conduct the US census and handle tasks performed by 20,000 Social Security employees.

USPS, an agency with 635,000 employees that lost US$9.5 billion in 2024, has been exempt from

DOGE-directed federal employee reductions

.

Mr DeJoy said in March that USPS plans to reduce its workforce by 10,000 workers in April through a voluntary retirement programme.

In 2020, Mr DeJoy faced harsh criticism from Democrats over USPS’ handling of election mail. In 2024, USPS delivered at least 99.2 million ballots to and from voters in the November presidential election.

The White House did not immediately comment on whether it had any involvement in Mr DeJoy’s departure. Last week, the White House forced out the chief executive of US passenger railroad service Amtrak. REUTERS