Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced an agreement Thursday with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) help the financially struggling U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to identify cost savings and address systemic issues.
DeJoy announced the partnership, which includes the General Services Administration (GSA), in a letter to top lawmakers. The letter unveiled plans to cut 10,000 jobs over the next month through a voluntary early retirement program.
“Last night I signed an agreement with the [GSA] and DOGE representatives to assist us in identifying and achieving further efficiencies,” DeJoy wrote.
The postmaster general cited mismanagement of retirement assets, workers’ compensation programs and burdensome regulatory requirements as key problems that need addressing.
The agreement marks a new frontier of DOGE’s influence, as the Postal Service had previously remained outside the scope of Musk’s government reform initiative. Since 2021, the USPS has already eliminated 30,000 positions while working to reduce projected losses from $160 billion to $80 billion over a decade, according to a USPS plan.
“The Postal Service once faced the immediate threat of insolvency … Now the Postal Service is instead finally experiencing an unprecedented period of growth and innovation as it emerges as a change leader in our government,” the letter continued.
Critics fear the partnership signals a move toward privatization. Democratic Virginia Rep. Gerald Connolly, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, warned that allowing DOGE to “infiltrate” the agency would “undermine it, privatize it, and then profit off Americans’ loss.”
“This capitulation will have catastrophic consequences for all Americans — especially those in rural and hard to reach areas … reliable mail delivery can’t just be reserved for MAGA supporters and Tesla owners,” Connolly wrote in a press release.
The National Association of Letter Carriers expressed cautious openness to assistance with the agency’s problems while firmly opposing privatization.
“If DOGE wants to improve the Postal Service’s finances, the above actions will do just that. Misguided ideas like privatization will not,” Brian Renfroe, president of the union, wrote in a press release. “Common sense solutions are what the Postal Service needs, not privatization efforts that will threaten 640,000 postal employees’ jobs.”
The USPS has struggled financially for years, hemorrhaging more than $100 billion since 2007 as first-class mail volume has declined 80% since 1997. The agency reported a $9.5 billion loss in 2024 despite implementing significant cost-cutting measures and service changes.
The announcement comes just weeks after DeJoy, who was appointed during President Donald Trump’s first term in 2020, announced plans to step down after about five years on the job. The president also suggested in February merging the Postal Service with the Commerce Department.
“We want to have a post office that works well and doesn’t lose massive amounts of money … It’ll be a form of a merger, but it will remain the Postal Service, and I think it will operate a lot better than it has been over the years,” Trump said. “It’s been just a tremendous loser for this country.”
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