Postmaster General Louis DeJoy sent a letter to the board overseeing the United States Postal Service that notified it to begin the process of finding his successor.
His nearly five-year tenure was marked by criticism he received from Republicans and Democrats.
“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,” DeJoy said in the letter. “I have fought against this, and as a result I believe that I can fairly say that my tenure has been one of high expectations and vigorous action.”
DeJoy was appointed to the role in June 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first administration, during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. His time in the role began amid concerns about whether service reductions due to the pandemic would affect vote-by-mail efforts in the 2020 presidential election. Then, last year, DeJoy was criticized by both parties for his decision to block lawmakers from visiting U.S. postal facilities.
He remained in the role through former President Joe Biden’s administration. DeJoy did not announce a timeline to find his replacement.
His departure comes four years into the 10-year overhaul plan he directed for USPS. The plan includes higher postal rates, slower standard delivery, and fewer post offices to try to slow some of USPS’s financial losses. While USPS has never operated like UPS or FedEx as a profitable company, the USPS lost $98 billion between 2007 and 2023 and lost an additional $9.5 billion last year. In 2022, the postal service saw a $56 billion net profit, ending a nearly 15-year streak of annual net losses.
“The major initiatives we are currently endeavoring are multi-year programs and it is important to have leadership in place whose tenure will span this future period,” DeJoy said in his statement.
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DeJoy’s departure comes at an unsure time for the postal service. In December, Trump said his team was “looking” at the idea of privatizing the agency. He floated a similar idea during his first term.
Trump does not have the authority to dissolve the USPS on his own, as the establishment of post offices is an explicit authority granted to Congress in the Constitution.
