Postmaster general announces plans to resign

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Tuesday announced that he planned to resign his post as the head of United States Postal Service and urged the service's board of governors to begin looking for his replacement.

The announcement comes approximately half-way through DeJoy's 10-year USPS reform plan, which would drastically update the mail service. DeJoy first took office during the COVID-19 pandemic, in June of 2020.

The postmaster said that he will remain committed to the postal service while the search for his replacement is underway, and asked the board to find a replacement who would fulfill the rest of his 10-year plan.

“While there remains much critical work to be done to ensure that the Postal Service can be financially viable as we continue to serve the nation in our essential public service mission, I have decided it is time to start the process of identifying my successor and of preparing the Postal Service for this change,” DeJoy said in a statement.

He also outlined some of the strategies that he has already begun implementing, including cutting $2 billion in annual transportation costs, $1.5 billion in annual mail processing costs, and growing revenue by $5 billion per year.

"Postmaster General is a demanding role made more difficult by the devastating condition I found the Postal Service in when I arrived and the almost unceasing resistance to change – without offering any viable solutions – from stakeholders motivated by both parochial and political purposes," he wrote to the board. “The simplest and most obvious ideas and solutions receive illogical and irrational scrutiny from those that have no responsibility for ensuring the financial viability of the Postal Service.”

DeJoy also offered eligible employees early retirement buyouts to mail handlers, which they have until March 7 to decide on whether to take. The retirement would then go into effect on April 30.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.