Louis DeJoy, the head of the United States Postal Service, has announced his resignation in a statement issued on Monday. Doug Tulino, the Deputy Postmaster General, will lead the United States Postal Service until a successor is named by the USPS governing board.
“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,” DeJoy said in a statement released Monday evening, which also mentioned his “intention to retire.”
He wrote to the USPS Board of Governors last month, requesting that they begin the search for a new postmaster general. DeJoy’s departure follows his agreement earlier this month to allow President Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk’s DOGE team to assist in finding “further efficiencies” at USPS.
His contentious term ends weeks after Trump confirmed, speaking at the White House, that his administration is considering having the Commerce Department take control of what Congress established as an independent postal service, which Trump has long criticized for its financial problems.
According to legal experts, any attempt to bring the USPS under the control of the White House would most likely violate the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which converted what was once the Post Office Department, a Cabinet-level agency, into “an independent establishment of the executive branch.”
Trump has also expressed support for privatizing the US mail service, which has sparked protests across the country by postal worker unions in recent weeks.
DeJoy was appointed to lead the Postal Service during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he oversaw the expansion of mail-in voting in two presidential elections.
In 2021, DeJoy implemented a 10-year reorganization plan to restore financial stability to the postal system. Critics of the plan, however, claim that consolidating mail processing centers and other changes have slowed service, particularly in rural areas.
