Updated March 24, 2025 at 19:48 PM ET
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is stepping down, the head of the country's mail service confirmed in a statement on Monday.
Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino is set to head the U.S. Postal Service until the USPS governing board names a successor.
"I believe strongly that the organization is well positioned and capable of carrying forward and fully implementing the many strategies and initiatives that comprise our transformation and modernization," DeJoy said in the statement released Monday evening, which referred to his "intention to retire."
Last month, he asked the USPS Board of Governors in a letter to start a search for a new postmaster general.
DeJoy's exit comes after he agreed this month to allow the DOGE team of President Trump's billionaire adviser Elon Musk to help find "further efficiencies" at USPS.
His controversial term is ending weeks after Trump, speaking at the White House, confirmed that his administration is considering having the Commerce Department take control of what Congress set up to be an independent postal service, which Trump has long criticized for its troubled finances. Legal experts say any attempt to bring USPS under the White House's control would likely violate the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which transformed what was known as the Post Office Department, a Cabinet-level agency, into "an independent establishment of the executive branch."
Trump has also signaled support for privatizing the United States' mail service, sparking protests across the country by unions of postal workers in recent weeks.
DeJoy was appointed to lead the Postal Service during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and has overseen the rise of voting by mail for two presidential elections. In 2021, DeJoy rolled out a 10-year reorganization plan in an attempt to bring financial stability to the postal system. Critics of the plan, however, say that consolidating mail-processing centers and other changes have slowed service, especially in rural communities.
Editor's note: USPS is a financial supporter of NPR.
Edited by Padmananda Rama
Copyright 2025 NPR
