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By Aliss Higham
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The United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced it will be working with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to improve the beleaguered government agency, including cutting 10,000 jobs.
Newsweek has contacted DOGE and USPS for comment via email outside of regular working hours.
Why It Matters
DOGE, on the direction of President Donald Trump, has been directed to tackle waste and fraud across numerous federal government departments since his administration began in January, and USPS is the latest to come under scrutiny.
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In a letter to Congress leaders, outgoing Postmaster Louis DeJoy confirmed he had signed an agreement with DOGE and the General Services Administration (GSA) to "assist us in identifying and achieving further efficiencies."
The cost-saving measures also come at a time when Trump is considering merging the USPS into the Commerce Department, and bringing it under the authority of the executive branch.
What To Know
The postmaster general has requested that lawmakers review a list of proposed areas where he sought assistance from DOGE officials, including modifications to employee benefits and changes to the Postal Regulatory Commission, which oversees USPS regulations.
DeJoy also stated that he asked DOGE to examine the "unfunded mandates" imposed on USPS by Congress, such as requiring the agency to deliver mail six days a week, maintain rural post offices, uphold uniform first-class mail rates, and provide free P.O. boxes for residents without direct mail carrier service.
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The letter also confirms that USPS plans to reduce its workforce by 10,000 workers in the next month through a voluntary early retirement program. DOGE has led job cuts across numerous government departments since its work began following Trump's inauguration.
It's no secret that USPS has been struggling financially in recent years, having implemented a 10-year plan to stabilize its finances in 2021. It reported a $9.5 billion loss in the fiscal year ending in September 2024, compared to a net loss of $6.5 billion in the fiscal year 2023.
The agency has said that 80 percent of its losses came from fixed costs, including pension contributions for its retirees and workers' compensation claims for injuries on the job. USPS currently expects to close the fiscal year 2025 with a $6.9 billion net loss.
In late 2024, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability reported that the financial condition of the USPS "remains poor." It told DeJoy that he must "implement cost-effective measures to achieve financial self-sufficiency."
The USPS operates under a "universal service obligation," requiring it to deliver mail and packages regardless of distance or profitability, unlike private mail services. It also does not receive taxpayer money.
Will Delivery Times Be Impacted?
At this early stage, this is unclear. Who exactly will be impacted by the cuts is not addressed in the letter.
Laws requiring USPS to deliver mail to all Americans six days a week were passed by Congress, so the president and DOGE could not unilaterally get rid of any of those requirements without congressional approval.
USPS announced at the end of February it is adopting new service standards that come into force on April 1. Most mail will retain the same service standard and some will have faster or slightly slower standards. It remains to be seen if this will change.
What People Are Saying
Louis DeJoy in the letter to lawmakers: "It has long been known that the Postal Service has a broken business model that was not financially sustainable without critically necessary and fundamental core change. 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. 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."
Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver said on X, formerly Twitter: "Any attempts to privatize the USPS would be a betrayal to the more than 640,000 postal employees who work tirelessly every day to ensure mail is delivered to every corner of the country."
President Donald Trump, regarding bringing the USPS into the Department of Commerce: "We want to have a post office that works well and doesn't lose massive amounts of money. And we're thinking about doing that."
What Happens Next
Earmarked staffing cuts and other changes are yet to take place. The letter does not give a date for when DOGE will begin working with the agency. Any efforts to cut service or for Trump to change the agency's structure are also likely to result in court challenges.
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