The pinnacle of the U.S. Postal Service introduced in a letter to Congress Thursday that the company would minimize 10,000 employees as a part of an settlement with Elon Musk’s so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity.
Within the letter obtained by The Related Press, outgoing Postmaster Basic Louis DeJoy stated that he reached an settlement with Musk to determine and obtain “further efficiencies” at USPS.
“This effort aligns with our initiatives; while we have accomplished a great deal, there is much more to be done,” he stated. “I ask that you please engage with the Postal Service, our DOGE representatives, and the Federal agencies that need to adapt to the critically necessary changes involved and to correct for the deficiencies of the past that can and must be corrected.”
USPS has lengthy confronted monetary struggles, shedding greater than $100 billion since 2007 however reporting a fourth-quarter revenue of $144 million final month.
Regardless of Musk focusing on and dismantling numerous federal companies since President Donald Trump started his second time period, DOGE had not but geared toward USPS, which employs practically 635,000 employees.
It’s doable that this newest transfer is solely step one towards privatization of USPS, which Musk and Trump have advocated for regardless of warnings from the American Postal Staff Union president that this is able to “end universal service.”
Through the years, Trump has repeatedly tried to defund the company. He as soon as argued for gutting USPS as a result of it could make it tougher for folks to vote by mail, a observe that stays a goal of Republican derision.
Extra not too long ago, Trump was reportedly toying with signing an government order to dissolve the governing board of USPS and merge the company with the Division of Commerce.
Although the plan proposed by DeJoy is relatively much less dangerous, it nonetheless represents a major blow to USPS employees and operations.
In his letter to Congress, DeJoy—a Trump appointee who has confronted criticism for his administration of the company—indicated that USPS had already decreased its workforce by 30,000 because the 2021 fiscal yr however deliberate to chop one other 10,000 staff within the subsequent 30 days via a beforehand introduced voluntary retirement program.
DeJoy additionally highlighted a number of challenges that he claimed have been affecting USPS, together with “management of retirement assets and its workers’ compensation program by other government agencies, unfunded mandates, and burdensome regulatory requirements.”
DeJoy’s collaboration with DOGE has already drawn opposition from some Democrats.
“This capitulation will have catastrophic consequences for all Americans—especially those in rural and hard to reach areas—who rely on the Postal Service every day to deliver mail, medications, ballots, and more. Reliable mail delivery can’t just be reserved for MAGA supporters and Tesla owners,” Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, the rating Democrat on the Home Oversight Committee that oversees USPS, stated in an announcement.
In the meantime, Brian Renfroe, the president of the Nationwide Affiliation of Letter Carriers, instructed The New York Occasions that he was “skeptical of DOGE.”
“We will be in wait-and-see mode,” he stated, including that any new cuts on the Postal Service would “almost directly result in challenges providing the service that we provide every single day.”
