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postmaster general
‘Yeah, That’s Illegal’: USPS Chief Says States Won't Receive Mail Ballots Unless They Hand Voter Rolls to Trump
"You're making a decision that people cannot vote by mail. That's unacceptable," said US Sen. Gary Peters.
Jun 25, 2026
Postmaster General David Steiner drew the ire of Democratic senators and voting rights advocates on Wednesday when he said that the US Postal Service would not deliver mail-in ballots in states that do not hand their voter files to the Trump administration.
During a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the panels ranking member, asked Steiner if USPS would deliver ballots in a state whose government had refused the Trump administration's request for access to its absentee voter list.
"Under our proposed regulation, no," Steiner replied. "We would tell the state that we need the manifest."
Peters responded by accusing USPS of creating a rule that "coerces" states into handing their voter files to the federal government even though they are under no legal obligation to do so.
"You're making a decision that people cannot vote by mail," Peters said. "That's unacceptable."
PETERS: Yes or no, if a state refuses to turn their absentee voter list to the federal government, will the Postal Service still mail their ballots under this proposed rule?
POSTMASTER GENERAL STEINER: No.
PETERS: So the proposed rule basically coerces states to hand over their… pic.twitter.com/5bnJb5Atnr
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 24, 2026
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also sparred with Steiner during the hearing, informing the postmaster general that USPS had absolutely no role to play in determining how states conduct their elections.
"You run the Postal Service, you deliver the mail," Blumenthal said. "You don't review ballots or registration. Nobody said you should... This proposed rule is bogus."
Blumenthal demanded Steiner commit to deliver all mail-in ballots to voters in his state regardless of whether it complied with the Trump administration's demands, but the postmaster general said he would not make such a commitment.
"Our proposed rule is subject to litigation," Steiner told him. "We'll see how that all turns out."
"Well, I guess we will see," Blumenthal replied, "but it will probably be in court."
The Founding Fathers didn’t envision USPS reviewing voting ballots or registration. Trump’s Postmaster General refuses to commit to deliver mail-in-ballots without fulfilling Trump’s new bogus, sham review. pic.twitter.com/V3jiBMyGOY
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) June 24, 2026
Some observers reacted with shock to Steiner's willingness to go along with Trump's latest election-rigging scheme, which they said was patently unconstitutional.
"Yeah, that's illegal," said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. "The Post Office can’t refuse to deliver mail to try and get policy concessions."
"We have a Postmaster General who should not be in any position of trust or influence," commented political scientist Norman Ornstein, "a disgraceful traitor to American values."
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signaled his state would challenge the proposed USPS rule.
"Illinois expanded vote-by-mail because we believe voting should be easier, not harder," Pritzker wrote. "Now, Trump’s handpicked Postmaster General is threatening to withhold mail ballots unless states turn over voter rolls. That's not election security. It’s voter suppression."
Political scientist Robert E. Kelly argued that Trump's attack on mail-in voting was a "deeply malign gimmick which makes it so hard to accommodate MAGA within the US political order."
"No one thought to use the mail as a partisan weapon," Kelly wrote. "The laws and norms around mail are poorly known, because no one ever thought to try this gambit before. But now, because Trump insists on politicizing the bureaucracy, this whole thing will go to court just months before the election."
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'The Privatizers Are Coming': DeJoy Is Gone, But US Postal Service Not Safe From Trump and Musk
President of the American Postal Workers Union says any effort by the Trump administration to seize control of the USPS Board of Governors "is unlawful and only makes clear their goal of breaking up and selling off the Postal Service to private corporations."
Mar 25, 2025
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy officially left office on Monday, but defenders of the U.S. Postal Service said the long-awaited departure of its reviled chief administrator does not mean the nation's public mail service is safe from the threat of privatization, which they warn remains the goal of President Donald Trump and right-wing allies like Elon Musk.
"Make no mistake," said American Postal Workers Union president Mark Dimondstein in a statement, "Louis DeJoy was forced out by a presidential administration that is intent on breaking up and selling off the public Postal Service. Reports from last month made clear that the White House has plans for a hostile takeover of the Postal Service."
As Common Dreams reported in February, President Donald Trump was accused of orchestrating an "outrageous, unlawful attack" on the USPS by plotting to terminate all the members of the Board of Governors and putting the agency under his direct control.
" Elon Musk is not about efficiency—he's about picking your pocket." —Mark Dimondstein, APWU President
Any such attack, Dimondstein said Monday, "is part of the ongoing oligarchs' coup against the vital public services our members and other public servants provide the country. We know that privatized postal services will lead to higher postage prices and lower service quality for the public. No matter who leads the USPS, it is—and must remain—the People's Postal Service."
With DeJoy's resignation, and until the Board appoints a replacement, Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino will now serve as the interim Postmaster General.
In comments Tuesday morning at the National Press Club, part of a roundtable discussion with postal worker union leaders, Dimondstein acknowledged the controversial legacy of DeJoy, but added, "say what you want, it turned out he was not a privatizer," as he reiterated his belief that DeJoy was forced out by Trump, at least in part, to make way for someone more aggressive in that direction.
"The privatizers are coming," Dimonstein warned. "They are coming for you and your constitutional right to postal services."
"This is really a struggle between Wall Street and Main Street," he continued. "That's the only way that we can understand why anyone would want to privatize. A few people would gain more wealth—a few quick dollars—but the real shareholders of the Postal Service, the people of the country, would lose out with higher prices, less service, and of course the workers with less wages, benefits, and rights, which, rather than build strong communities, weakens our communities."
Postal Union Leaders roundtable
In his statement Monday, Dimondstein said:
The law is clear: the Postal Service was created by Congress as an independent agency, designed to be free from shifting political winds and dedicated solely to serving the country. The law is also clear that the Board of Governors, and it alone, is empowered to hire and fire the Postmaster General. Any attempt by this Administration to seize power from the Board of Governors is unlawful and only makes clear their goal of breaking up and selling off the Postal Service to private corporations.
The APWU calls on the Board of Governors to stand its ground and take its responsibilities seriously. The Board should move as quickly as possible to hire as the next permanent Postmaster General, someone committed to the public service mission of the USPS, who respects the rights of hardworking postal workers, and who will not break up and sell off our public Postal Service.
As part of the organized efforts this week to defend the Postal Service, coordinated actions led by the APWU and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), which represents 295,00 active and retired postal workers, took place nationwide over recent days as unionized carriers and their allies demonstrated outside local post offices against plans to diminish services or moves toward privatization.
The union warns that the plan put in motion by DeJoy—who said he worked hand-in-hand with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to implement changes—would, in addition to massive job losses at the Postal Service:
- Abolish the Postal Regulatory Commission, leaving no independent regulatory authority on pricing and service;
- Raise shipping costs, driving inflation higher for businesses and consumers; and
- Sharply reduce service to rural America, including over 50 million addresses where private carriers often do not deliver.
Dimondstein, citing moves by a "salivating" Wells Fargo bank about the profit potential if parcel service was taken away from the public Postal Service, warned in his remarks on Tuesday, "Elon Musk is not about efficiency—he's about picking your pocket. Turn it over to private profit, laugh all the way to the bank, and the people of this country are left holding the bag."
NALC president Brian Renfroe said DeJoy's departure marks an opportunity for the Board to appoint a new leader—one who "must continue modernizing and investing in USPS' infrastructure while maintaining quality universal service funded by postage, not taxpayer dollars."
In addition, said Renfroe, the new Postmaster General "must fundamentally believe in the agency as a public service and be committed to guaranteeing the universal service Americans rely on," a clear knock against any privatization efforts.
"We're trying to alert the public, the people of the country, that our postal services are truly in danger," Dimondstein said at a rally in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. "This is not a one-off day; this is the beginning of an ongoing fight."
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Democrats Demand Hearing on 'Backroom Agreement' Between DOGE and DeJoy
"Any potential deal that would give Elon Musk and his DOGE associates unilateral authority to manipulate the most critical, expansive national mail network on the planet is deeply troubling," wrote a group of House Democrats.
Mar 17, 2025
A group of House Democrats is demanding that the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform conduct a public hearing on the Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency's plans for the U.S. Postal Service, in light of recent reporting that U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says he signed an agreement with DOGE to assist the nation's mail service "in identifying and achieving further efficiencies."
The news follows Washington Post coverage from February, when the outlet reported that U.S. President Donald Trump is considering putting the Postal Service under the control of the Commerce Department. In December, the Post also reported that Trump was eyeing privatizing the Postal Service. Elon Musk, a GOP megadonor who is playing a core role in Trump's efforts to slash federal spending and personnel, has also said the Postal Service should be privatized.
Postal workers unions are fiercely opposed to any effort to privatize the Postal Service.
"The Trump administration... is now subjecting the USPS, America's most trusted federal institution, to the chainsaw approach of Elon Musk and DOGE. This broad assault on the independence of the USPS demands congressional oversight, especially from the committee with jurisdiction over the USPS," according to the letter, which was signed by 20 House Democrats.
In a March 13 letter to congressional leaders, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Congress he signed an agreement with representatives from Elon Musk's DOGE and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) so that DOGE could help the U.S. Postal Service, which has experienced billions in financial losses in recent years, work to address "big problems."
The Postal Service plans to cut 10,000 employees in the next 30 days through a voluntary early retirement program, according to DeJoy's letter.
DeJoy cited challenges facing the Postal Service, such as "mismanagement of our self-funded retirement assets," "burdensome regulatory requirements restricting normal business practice," and "unfunded mandates imposed on us by legislation."
The letter demanding a public hearing, which was addressed to House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), was spearheaded by Oversight Committee Ranking Member Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), and Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.)
"This backroom agreement between the billionaire-led DOGE and Postmaster DeJoy sets off alarm bells about this administration's plans for the Postal Service's role as a cornerstone public institution," according to the letter. "The Postal Service facilitates the delivery of more than 115 billion pieces of mail each year, a significant portion of which is delivered to rural, low-income, and hard-to-reach areas that would not otherwise receive service if not for the universal service obligation, which has received bipartisan support in Congress and is integral to the mission of Postal Service."
"We agree that there are steps Congress could take to strengthen the financial sustainability of the Postal Service, but any potential deal that would give Elon Musk and his DOGE associates unilateral authority to manipulate the most critical, expansive national mail network on the planet is deeply troubling," they continued.
The group is urging that the committee hold a hearing and wrote that they have prepared a letter to send to DeJoy asking that he furnish any signed agreements he made with the GSA and DOGE. The group is urging that Comer also sign on to that letter.
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Postal Workers Unions Ready to 'Fight Like Hell' Against Trump-Musk Attack on USPS
"The public Postal Service is a democratic right, and we won't back down in defending it...Together, we say: The U.S. Mail Is Not For Sale!" said the American Postal Workers Union.
Mar 12, 2025
Following reports that the Trump administration is interested in restructuring and perhaps even privatizing the U.S. Postal Service, unions representing postal workers are fighting back.
On March 20, postal workers who are represented by the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and their allies will hold a day of action to resist "threats of privatization and political interference to the public Postal Service," according to the union's website. Locals around the country are participating.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), which represents U.S. Postal Service employees who are city letter carriers, will host local rallies on March 23 at NALC branches to "fight like hell" against "dismantling" the widely cherished public delivery service.
On Tuesday, NALC also held an event in Atlantic City, New Jersey where workers rallied against changes to the Postal Service.
U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly considering putting the Postal Service under the control of the Commerce Department. The agency, which is overseen by a bipartisan board of governors whose members appoint a postmaster general to run day-to-day operations, has functioned as an independent entity since the passage of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970. Congress passed that law to make it freestanding and to shield it from "political tinkering," according to The Washington Post.
Also according to the Post, which cited postal experts, putting the Postal Service under the Commerce Department would likely violate federal law.
In December, the Post reported that Trump had designs to privatize the Postal Service.
Billionaire Elon Musk, who is playing a core role in the Trump administration's efforts to slash government, has also said the Postal Service should be privatized.
President of APWU, Mark Dimondstein, warned against privatization in a Q&A posted to the union's website on Monday.
"The USPS is owned by the people and exists to serve everyone with universal, affordable service; if privatized, it would exist to make maximum profit to enrich corporations, Wall Street, and billionaires," he said. "Privatization is bad for workers, bad for unions, and bad for the people. Prices go up and service goes down, while the bosses and billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos laugh all the way to the bank."
"Let's be clear-eyed and ready for battle and declare 'The U.S. Mail Is Not for Sale!' Onward!" said Dimondstein.
According to materials distributed by NALC, "any effort to privatize or restructure USPS is a direct threat to: 640,000 postal employees, including 200,000 city letter carriers represented by NALC The universal service every American relies on Millions of households and businesses, especially in rural America."
This is not the first time that the Postal Service has been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration. Trump was interested in privatizing the Postal Service during his first term, but backed off the idea in the face of opposition.
In April 2020, a Postal Service Board of Governors member resigned over the Trump administration's attempts to politicize the Postal Service. Louis DeJoy, a Trump campaign donor, was appointed Postmaster General in 2020. DeJoy recently announced he plans to retire soon.
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'Outrageous, Unlawful Attack': Trump Plots Takeover of US Postal Service
"Any attack on the Postal Service would be part of the billionaire oligarch coup," said the president of the American Postal Workers Union.
Feb 21, 2025
President Donald Trump's reported plan to terminate every member of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors and bring the independent and highly popular USPS under his administration's control drew immediate outrage from the world's largest postal union, which said the floated takeover would be illegal and destructive to public mail operations.
"Any attack on the Postal Service would be part of the billionaire oligarch coup, directed not just at the postal workers our union represents, but the millions of Americans who rely on the critical public service our members provide every single day," said Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), which represents hundreds of thousands of current and retired postal workers.
The union leader's statement came after The Washington Post reported Thursday that Trump is preparing to "dissolve the leadership of the U.S. Postal Service and absorb the independent mail agency into his administration, potentially throwing the 250-year-old mail provider and trillions of dollars of e-commerce transactions into turmoil."
"Trump is expected to issue an executive order as soon as this week to fire the members of the Postal Service's governing board and place the agency under the control of the Commerce Department and Secretary Howard Lutnick," the Post reported, citing unnamed sources.
Lutnick, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate earlier this week, is a billionaire with glaring conflicts of interest.
The Post noted that Trump has spoken publicly about the possibility of privatizing the USPS, which is currently led by Louis DeJoy. On Tuesday, DeJoy—who was initially nominated for the post by Trump and has worked to gut the Postal Service from within during his tenure—asked the USPS board to begin the process of finding his successor.
The new reporting prompted warnings that Trump, who lied relentlessly about mail-in voting in the run-up to and aftermath of the 2020 election, wants to disrupt ballot deliveries by bringing the USPS under his control.
"Trump's reported outrage that the Postal Service was able to successfully deliver Americans' mail-in ballots in 2020 is exceptionally alarming when considering the same man who helped incite an insurrection based on evidence-free election denialism now wants to be in control of millions of absentee ballots," said Tony Carrk, executive director of the watchdog group Accountable.US.
"President Trump wants to consolidate power further and control access to your mail, all while making his wealthy donors richer in the process," Carrk added. "All eyes should be on conservative senators who represent rural communities who will bear the brunt of postal privatization."
trump wants to be able to tell the USPS not to deliver ballots to blue states www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
[image or embed]
— jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) February 20, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement Thursday that privatizing the USPS would be "an attack on Americans' access to critical information, benefits, and lifesaving medical care."
"It is clear that Trump and his cronies value lining their own pockets more than the lives and connection of the American public," said Connolly.
According to the Post, the USPS board was "planning to fight Trump's order" and held an "emergency meeting" Thursday at which the board "retained outside counsel and gave instructions to sue the White House if the president were to remove members of the board or attempt to alter the agency's independent status."
"Two of the group's GOP members—Derek Kan, a former Trump administration official, and Mike Duncan, a former chair of the Republican National Committee—were not in attendance," the Post reported.
Dimondstein voiced support for the postal board's plan to fight any Trump takeover attempt, saying the union backs all "efforts to defend our national treasure."
"If this reporting is true, it would be an outrageous, unlawful attack on a storied national treasure, enshrined in the Constitution and created by Congress to serve every American home and business equally," said Dimondstein. "The law created the postal board of Governors, and empowers it and it alone to hire and fire the postmaster general. Any effort by the administration to remove the board or fire postal executives is clearly illegal."
"The Postal Service is owned by the people, for the benefit of the people. Postal workers are dedicated to our mission to serve, no matter who sits in the White House or in Congress," the union leader added. "Postal workers and our unions will join with the public to fight for the vibrant, independent, and public Postal Service we all deserve."
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As DeJoy Quits, Critics Fear GOP-Led Postal Board Will 'Find Someone Worse'
"The fact that Louis DeJoy still has a job is a failure of the Biden administration," said former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner.
Feb 18, 2025
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is asking the United States Postal Service Board of Governors to begin selecting his successor, signaling the approaching end of his controversial tenure and stoking fears that, influenced by President Donald Trump—who says he's considering privatizing the federal agency—the Republican-dominated board will choose an even more contentious replacement.
"While there remains much critical work to be done to ensure that the Postal Service can be financially viable as we continue to serve the nation in our essential public service mission, I have decided it is time to start the process of identifying my successor and of preparing the Postal Service for this change," DeJoy said in a statement Tuesday.
"After four-and-a-half years leading one of America's greatest public institutions through dramatic change during unusual times, it is time for me to start thinking about the next phase of my life, while also ensuring that the Postal Service is fully prepared for the future," he added.
In response, U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Board of Governors Chair Amber McReynolds said that DeJoy "has steadfastly served the nation and the Postal Service over the past five years" and hailed "his enduring leadership and his tireless efforts to modernize the Postal Service and reverse decades of neglect."
However, DeJoy's tenure has been marred by allegations of criminal election obstruction, conflicts of interest, and other corruption. Critics also decried Delivering for America, a 10-year austerity plan that opponents said put the USPS on a fast track toward slower service, job cuts, and, ultimately, privatization. The plan also contains the currently delayed consolidation of USPS facilities, a policy opposed by 200,000-member American Postal Workers Union (APWU).
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has notified the USPS Board of Governors that it's time for them to identify his successor. It remains to be seen if they find someone worse or privatize the USPS. I said it countless times in the hellscape, and I'll repeat it again here: DeJoy deserves deJail.
— The Shallow State ( @ourshallowstate.bsky.social) February 18, 2025 at 7:54 AM
DeJoy—who had no previous USPS experience and came directly to the agency from the board of a privately owned competitor—was a major donor to Trump and the Republican National Committee before being installed as postmaster general in May 2020 by Trump-appointed members of the USPS Board of Governors.
While DeJoy detractors hoped that former President Joe Biden would fire the embattled postmaster general after winning the White House in 2020, he enjoyed a surprising second act during Biden's tenure. He embraced fleet electrification, although he was later accused of "dragging his feet" on the EV rollout and for his efforts to cut tens of thousands of jobs, consolidate operations, and hike customer prices. For example, the price of a first-class postage stamp was 55 cents when DeJoy entered office. Now it's 73 cents.
Trump's return has also brought back the specter of postal privatization. The Republican president has repeatedly said that his administration is considering privatization. During Trump's first term, his Office of Management and Budget recommended that the USPS—a constitutionally sanctioned agency with more than 600,000 employees—be privatized.
Pro-privatization GOP lawmakers have called on Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to find ways to stem USPS financial shortcomings, which approached $10 billion last fiscal year, largely due to mandated pension contributions it is forced to pay each year. But the USPS also raked in $79.5 billion in revenue last year, and pro-privatizers are keen for a piece of that action.
"DOGE is a question of billionaire oligarchs trying to figure out how to get more money into their private profits. So all of this stuff about efficiency is really a cover for that, and that also carries over to those who want to privatize the Post Office," APWU president Mark Dimondstein told Mother Jones' Alex Nguyen in an interview published in the magazine's March-April edition.
"The Post Office takes in about $80 billion a year in revenue," Dimondstein added. "Those on the private side of the industry want their hands on that money because when it's in the public domain, they can't use it to generate private profits."
Some observers questioned the timing of DeJoy's planned departure, while others fear he "will be replaced by someone somehow undoubtedly even worse," as one social media commentator put it.
DeJoy's successor will be chosen by a USPS Board of Governors made up of three Republicans, two Democrats, and one independent member.
Brian Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers—which is locked in a contract battle with USPS management—said Tuesday that "in its search for the next USPS leader, NALC urges the Board of Governors to seek out an individual with the necessary experience and expertise to lead the agency at this critical time."
"We need someone who values the workforce and is committed to preserving and improving universal service," the union added. "The Postal Service is older than our country and is mandated in the Constitution. The next postmaster general must guarantee that letter carriers can continue safely performing their constitutionally mandated service in every community nationwide."
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'No Way' We Let Trump Privatize Postal Service, Say Progressives
Instead of privatization, said one Democratic lawmaker, "Fire his former pick for postmaster, DeJoy, and let a real professional run it like it should be run. The first priority is delivering mail. Cut the Pentagon's bloat if you want to save money."
Dec 15, 2024
After weekend reporting indicated President-elect Donald Trump is actively thinking about avenues to privatize the U.S. Postal Service, progressives decried any such efforts and once again directed their ire on the much-reviled Postmaster General, appointed to run the USPS during Trump's first term.
The Washington Post reported Saturday, citing people familiar with recent talks within the incoming team's camp, that Trump is "keen" on a privatization scheme that would give the USPS to for-profit, private interests.
According to the Post:
Trump has discussed his desire to overhaul the Postal Service at his Mar-a-Lago estate with Howard Lutnick, his pick for commerce secretary and the co-chair of his presidential transition, the people said. Earlier this month, Trump also convened a group of transition officials to ask for their views on privatizing the agency, one of the people said.
Told of the mail agency's annual financial losses, Trump said the government should not subsidize the organization, the people said. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect private conversations.
Trump's hostility to government programs that serve the public interest—including Medicare, Social Security, public education, and consumer protection agencies—is well-documented.
"The United States Postal Service is a crucial asset that was built and is owned by all of us, and there is zero mandate from the public to turn it over to an oligarch."
Trump's attacks on the Postal Service, including his blessing of the 2020 appointment of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a former logistics industry executive, sparked alarm about Republican desires to gut the agency from the inside out.
While calls to fire DeJoy from the USPS top leadership post persisted during the last year of Trump's first term and remained constant during Biden's time in office, he remains Postmaster General despite repeated accusations that his ultimate aim is to diminish the agency to such an extend that it will be more possible to justify its dismantling.
While the Post's reporting on Saturday stated that Trump's "specific plans for overhauling the Postal Service" in his upcoming term "were not immediately clear," it did quote Casey Mulligan, who served as a top economic advisor during the last administration, who touted the performance of the private sector compared to a Postal Service he claimed was too slow and costly.
"We didn't finish the job in the first term, but we should finish it now," said Mulligan.
Progressive defenders of the Postal Service responded by denouncing any future effort to privatize the agency, which is one of the most popular among the U.S. public.
"The Post Office is in our constitution," said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Saturday. "There is no way we let Donald Trump privatize it. Fire his former pick for postmaster, DeJoy, and let a real professional run it like it should be run. The first priority is delivering mail. Cut the Pentagon's bloat if you want to save money."
Former Ohio state senator Nina Turner also defended the USPS, saying that "72% of Americans approve of the U.S. Postal Service; it's how many seniors receive medication, especially in rural areas."
Progressive critics of right-wing attacks on the Postal Service have noted for years that the "financial performance" issues directly result from the "burdensome and unnecessary" pre-funding of liabilities mandated by the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. This act forces the USPS to pay billions yearly toward future postal worker retirement benefits.
"No matter what your partisan stripe," said Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, "we should be able to agree the United States Postal Service is a crucial asset that was built and is owned by all of us, and there is zero mandate from the public to turn it over to an oligarch."
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Even After Electric Vehicle Progress, Advocates Say DeJoy Should Still Be Fired
"Any increase in E.V. acquisition at USPS is in spite of DeJoy, not because of him."
Dec 26, 2022
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's widely praised announcement last week that the Postal Service will buy tens of thousands of electric vehicles in the coming years to help replace its aging delivery fleet should not be enough to save the scandal-plagued USPS chief's job, advocates said, pointing to his refusal to support a more ambitious electrification plan and his ongoing efforts to slash jobs, consolidate mail facilities, and hike prices for consumers.
"The bottom line is that any increase in E.V. acquisition at USPS is in spite of DeJoy, not because of him," Vishal Narayanaswamy of the Revolving Door Project, told The New Republic's Kate Aronoff. "Electrification would be proceeding much faster if we had a board that could fire him."
DeJoy, a Trump and GOP megadonor, was selected to serve as postmaster general in May 2020, and even news last year that he was facing an FBI investigation for potentially unlawful campaign finance activity during his time as a private logistics executive wasn't enough to harm his job security.
The postmaster general is chosen by—and can only be removed by—the USPS Board of Governors, a body composed of nine officials nominated by the president.
In the face of massive pressure to force out DeJoy, Biden has nominated and the narrowly Democratic Senate has confirmed five board governors, giving the president's picks a majority on the postal board and enough votes to remove the postmaster general, who does not serve a fixed term.
While Biden's nominees have raised questions and concerns about DeJoy's 10-year plan to overhaul USPS operations, calling it "strategically ill-conceived" and "dangerous," they have yet to mount a serious push for his removal.
"Electrification would be proceeding much faster if we had a board that could fire him."
Narayanaswamy lamented that the White House, too, appears uninterested in ousting DeJoy. The Biden administration "does not seem to care about replacing DeJoy and has more or less dropped it as a priority," Narayanaswamy told Aronoff, who argued in a column last week that "the potential of the USPS to propel an energy transition will continue to go untapped" as long as DeJoy is at the helm.
Though the new electric vehicle plan is a significant improvement over DeJoy's earlier proposal—which called for the purchase of 90% gas-guzzling trucks—"the USPS only plans to electrify 40% of its fleet" in total, Aronoff noted.
"The newly announced purchases also only represent about 10% of the existing federal fleet of cars, SUVs, and trucks, which is the largest in the world," Aronoff continued. "That means the majority of the fleet will still run on gasoline for the foreseeable future. What's more, the internal combustion engine–powered versions of the USPS's 'Next Generation Delivery Vehicles,' or NGDVs, get just 8.6 miles per gallon."
"The potential for the USPS to act as an engine of decarbonization and set industry-wide standards for electrification is vast. But DeJoy—who's talked repeatedly about downsizing and privatizing the USPS and has lucrative ties to private logistics firms—is unlikely to see things that way," she added. "It's still possible for Biden to replace pro-DeJoy members of the USPS Board of Governors, paving the way for them to replace DeJoy himself."
Two Trump-nominated board members who have defended DeJoy—Donald Moak and William Zollars—are currently in holdover years after their terms expired earlier this month, but Biden has yet to announce any new board picks despite grassroots pressure.
In late October, the Save the Post Office Coalition—a network of more than 300 public interest groups—urged Biden to replace Moak and Zollars with retiring Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) and policy expert Sarah Anderson.
Before her election to Congress, Lawrence worked for the Postal Service for three decades. Anderson, director of the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, has written about and researched the USPS for years, and her grandfather was a Postal Service employee.
"Congresswoman Lawrence and Ms. Anderson are public servants who would bring needed perspectives and expertise to the USPS Board of Governors at a time when the nation is looking to the board to start asking the tough questions of Louis DeJoy," said Porter McConnell, co-founder of the Save the Post Office Coalition.
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