WASHINGTON – US Postmaster Louis DeJoy said earlier this month he called on the government efficiency team led by Elon Musk to help with many issues, the agency said.
Dejoy, who has been leading the agency since 2020, said he asked the Post Office Steering Committee in February to identify a successor, but recently gave no indication that he was planning to step down abruptly.
Republican President Donald Trump said in February that he was considering merging the move Democrats violated federal law with the U.S. Postal Service and the Commerce Department.
“There is still a lot of work needed to maintain our positive trajectory,” DeJoy said in a statement, adding that Postmaster Deputy Doug Turino will lead the agency until the Postal Commission nominates him as a permanent successor. They hired a search company, he added.
Dejoy has led a dramatic effort to rebuild USPS over the past five years. This included cutting its forecast for cumulative losses over a decade from $160 billion to $80 billion. The resigning postmaster uses tactics similar to mask-driven government efficiency teams, such as reducing the workforce and canceling or renegotiating contracts.
Two media outlets last month reported that Trump was preparing to issue an executive order to fire the USPS board.
Musk said this month that he thought USPS should be privatized.
USPS, an agency with 635,000 employees that lost $9.5 billion last year, is exempt from DOGE-oriented federal employee cuts.
The White House did not immediately comment on whether he was involved in DeJoy's departure. Last week, the White House ousted the CEO of U.S. Passenger Rail Service Amtrak.
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