Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announces plans for more cuts to Postal Service

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the head of the U.S. Postal Service, told Congress he plans to collaborate with President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to eliminate 10,000 jobs, reduce spending on employee pensions, and review the leases of more than 30,000 postal retail centers.

In a March 13 letter to congressional leaders, DeJoy touted previous reductions in spending at the Postal Service, including the elimination of about 30,000 jobs since fiscal year 2021 and 50 million fewer work hours. “Last night I signed an agreement with the General Services Administration and DOGE representatives to assist us in identifying and achieving further efficiencies,” DeJoy wrote. He also noted “plans for a further reduction of another 10,000 people in the next 30 days through a Voluntary Early Retirement program.”

DeJoy’s previous cuts have already resulted in slower delivery times and understaffing. 

On March 17, he wrote to Congress again to clarify his plans to “dramatically reduce costs and grow revenue.” He specified that the DOGE/GSA team would help his agency crack down on counterfeit postage and spend less on employee pensions and workers’ compensation.. Noting that “approximately half of our current Post Offices fail to cover their cost of local operations,” he promised a review of “our leases on almost 31,000 retail centers.”

According to a 2021 NPR report, some post offices, mostly in rural areas, take in less money than they cost to operate but provide vital services to the communities.

DeJoy has been a political lightning rod since the Trump-appointed GOP majority on the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors selected him in May 2020. A wealthy businessman and major donor to the Republican Party before his appointment, DeJoy quickly eliminated postal jobs and intentionally slowed delivery times as millions of Americans attempted to vote by mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Postal Service’s inspector general said in October 2020 that DeJoy’s actions had “negatively impacted the quality and timelines of mail service nationally.”

The Postal Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.

The 10,000 job cuts come as Trump’s administration has attempted to get rid of hundreds of thousands of jobs across the federal government and to unilaterally shut down agencies that do not align with its political agenda.

“It is no surprise that DOGE has set its sights on the people’s Postal Service,“ the American Postal Workers Union, which represents more than 200,000 current and retired postal employees, said in a March 14 statement. “The APWU position is clear: There is no legitimate role for DOGE in the USPS or any other Federal agency. The public Postal Service was created by Congress as an independent government agency with robust oversight from the Office of Inspector General, the Postal Regulatory Commission, and the Board of Governors, as well as Congressional Committees.”

Virginia Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, accused DeJoy of allowing DOGE to undermine the agency. “This capitulation will have catastrophic consequences for all Americans – especially those in rural and hard to reach areas – who rely on the Postal Service every day to deliver mail, medications, ballots, and more,” Connolly said in a press release.

“We need a strong USPS with the employees it requires to successfully deliver for America six days per-week,” Kevin Yoder, a former Republican member of Congress and the current executive director of the advocacy group Keep US Posted, told Axios on March 17, adding that the “first and most important cost-cutting action” would be to fire DeJoy.