Originally published DeJoy leaves USPS amid search for new postmaster general on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/people/2025/03/dejoy-leaves-usps-amid-search-for-new-postmaster-general/ at Federal News Network
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Postmaster General Louis DeJoy will leave the Postal Service’s top job by the end of the day Monday, after he announced plans to leave the agency last month.
“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.
DeJoy announced last month he was preparing to step down as postmaster general , and urged the USPS Board of Governors to begin the search for his successor.
Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino will lead USPS until its Board of Governors selects a new postmaster general.
DeJoy defined his legacy at USPS by transforming its massive network of facilities and how the agency transports mail and packages across the country. Those efforts led to some cost savings at USPS, but often with the tradeoff of slower mail delivery.
DeJoy took office in June 2020, when the agency was months away from running out of cash. After surviving those pandemic-era financial challenges, DeJoy spent most of his tenure championing his 10-year “Delivering for America” reform plan, a strategy for USPS to overcome its long-term financial challenges.
“While our management team and the men and women of the Postal Service have established the path toward financial sustainability and high operating performance – and we have instituted enormous beneficial change to what had been an adrift and moribund organization – much work remains that is necessary to sustain our positive trajectory,” DeJoy wrote.
DeJoy said the USPS Board of Governors hired a search firm to help select a new postmaster general, and that search efforts are “well underway.”
“I am confident that Doug will continue our positive momentum during the period when the Governors undertake the important work of identifying and selecting the next Postmaster General. I also have no doubt that the entirety of the Postal Service will aggressively shape its future and become more efficient, capable, and competitive as it continuously changes and improves to best serve the American public,” he wrote.
DeJoy signed an agreement earlier this month with a team from the Department of Government Efficiency and the General Services Administration to “assist us in identifying and achieving further efficiencies.” DeJoy told lawmakers in a letter last week that DOGE’s work is “aligned with our efforts.”
“While we have accomplished a great deal, there is much more to be done. We are happy to have others to assist us in our worthwhile cause,” DeJoy wrote.
DOGE deployed teams to many federal agencies tasked with cutting government spending. But it’s an unusual step for DOGE representatives to weigh in on the business operations of USPS, an independent agency that’s generally self-funded through its own revenue.
DeJoy directed the DOGE team to reevaluate the role of the Postal Regulatory Service, an independent agency created by Congress that oversees USPS pricing and service.
DeJoy has repeatedly clashed with the postal regulator, and blamed much of the agency’s long-term financial challenges on the PRC. He told lawmakers that the regulator “is an unnecessary agency.”
The DOGE team will also help USPS review its leases for 31,000 retail centers, which includes post offices, and investigate a rise in counterfeit postage.
DOGE will have restricted access to USPS data. DeJoy told lawmakers that “only the data and information required to pursue these initiatives will be provided to the DOGE team members.”
DeJoy has told Congress that many of his leadership decisions at USPS resemble the types of work DOGE is implementing at other agencies.
Under his 10-year reform plan, DeJoy said USPS cut its workforce by about 30,000 positions since fiscal 2021 — and is on track to cut another 10,000 positions through early retirement buyouts.
USPS, he added, operates with 50 million fewer work hours each year than it did three years ago — saving about $2.5 billion annually.
Late last year, some DOGE supporters in Congress called on Elon Musk and his associates to find additional ways for USPS to cut costs. Their recommendations include privatizing some agency operations and scrapping plans for a new fleet of electric vehicles.
DeJoy, however, told lawmakers that the DOGE team is not “intended surreptitiously to make the organization more suited to privatization.”
USPS ended the first quarter of fiscal 2025 with a net profit — a rare financial gain for an agency that has seen more than a decade of annual net losses. DeJoy told lawmakers he expects USPS will see more positive financial results in the future.
“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,” DeJoy wrote.
USPS, however, still anticipates ending FY 2025 with a $6.9 billion net loss.
USPS Chairwoman Amber McReynolds said in a statement that DeJoy “has steadfastly served the nation and the Postal Service over the past five years.”
“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.
Paul Steidler, a senior fellow at the Lexington Institute, said DeJoy “courageously and tenaciously worked for five years to try and fix the U.S. Postal Service.”
“While his plan did not work, he deserves credit for the valiant effort and the sacrifices that he made. The time is now for top-to-bottom postal reform, which means making USPS a smaller and more efficient organization that will continue to serve the American people,” Steidler said.
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Originally published DeJoy leaves USPS amid search for new postmaster general on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/people/2025/03/dejoy-leaves-usps-amid-search-for-new-postmaster-general/ at Federal News Network
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