Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is opening the doors of the Postal Service to DOGE.
DeJoy informed congressional leaders on Thursday that he has entered into an agreement with Elon Musk’s cost-cutting venture. The agreement aims to assist the USPS in reducing expenses and streamlining operations, as stated in a letter obtained by TIME. DeJoy emphasized the alignment of this collaboration with their existing efforts, acknowledging the significant progress made while also highlighting the need for further improvements.
However, the USPS, a self-funded independent entity with approximately 640,000 employees, will not be subjected to a takeover similar to other federal departments. The Trump Administration has shielded the Postal Service from DOGE’s influence to reduce its workforce.
Instead, DeJoy is essentially directing the Department of Government Efficiency toward Congress. He tasked Musk’s team with reviewing structural issues he attributes to legislation from the 1970s. Pointing to the Postal Reorganization Act, DeJoy argued that other federal departments mishandled the agency’s retirement funds and workers’ compensation program. He also mentioned unfunded mandates imposed on the USPS, costing between $6 billion and $11 billion annually, such as six-day mail delivery and maintaining post offices in remote areas. Furthermore, he controversially labeled the Postal Regulatory Commission, which oversees the Postal Service and approves price increases, as an “unnecessary agency” that has cost the agency over $50 billion.
DeJoy told legislators that the DOGE team has been gracious in requesting to assist with the significant problems they can help resolve.
There is a certain irony in the DeJoy-DOGE arrangement. Since assuming his role in 2020, DeJoy has implemented a 10-year plan to enhance the agency’s profitability and efficiency. This included renegotiating air and ground transportation contracts, resulting in $10 billion in annual savings for the USPS. He also reduced the headquarters workforce by 20 percent, yielding over $200 million in annual savings. He constructed new processing centers and centralized the delivery network. Additionally, he collaborated with both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill to repeal a 2006 law mandating the USPS to pre-fund 50 years of health and retirement benefits for its employees, a requirement not imposed on other federal agencies. These changes led to the Postal Service achieving a $144 million profit in the final quarter of 2024, marking its first profitable period in years. Since then, he has continued to reduce the USPS budget. The agency anticipates shedding 10,000 workers next month through a voluntary early retirement program launched in January.
In essence, DeJoy has been performing the work that DOGE is said to do, even before DOGE’s involvement.
However, challenges persist. The Postal Service still struggles with on-time delivery and meeting its service standards. DeJoy remains a divisive figure on both sides of the political spectrum. In December, he faced criticism from a Republican member during a House Oversight Committee hearing regarding his leadership of the agency.
Despite DeJoy’s earlier prediction of the USPS breaking even by 2023, it experienced a last year. Postal Service leaders contend that they are only halfway through their ten-year plan. They argue that DeJoy’s reforms have placed the agency on a trajectory toward profitability, surpassing FedEx and UPS, and ensuring its ability to reach every American in every part of the country.
However, DeJoy’s oversight will soon end. Last month, he the USPS Board of Governors to begin the search for his successor, concluding a five-year tenure marked by navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, overseeing three elections heavily reliant on mail voting, and implementing a significant restructuring.
The future remains uncertain for one of the few government agencies enshrined in the Constitution. President Donald Trump has proposals such as privatization and folding the USPS into the Commerce Department. Musk has also advocated for privatizing the Post Office, stating at a conference this month that logically, anything that can reasonably be privatized should be.
However, these moves remain unlikely. Both would require congressional approval, and there is no indication that either chamber would support such a disruption to a government agency that delivers to more than 167 million addresses daily.
A collaboration between DeJoy and DOGE could present an alternative. As a logistics expert and a major Trump donor prior to becoming Postmaster General, DeJoy possesses credibility with the Musk-led initiative that others may lack. Instead of opposing them, he is collaborating with them. The ultimate goal may be to persuade Congress to save the USPS from alternatives that most would prefer to avoid.
DeJoy wrote to lawmakers that 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. He added that 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.
