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We’re Going After Wells Fargo—Here’s Why
On August 15, we’re planning a nationwide day of actions at Wells Fargo’s headquarters, corporate offices, and branches across the country, to make it clear that the bank cannot bend the knee to Trump without massive backlash.
Aug 13, 2025
Since the Trump regime took power, corporations have been lining up to bend the knee—but no bank has done so as dramatically as Wells Fargo. So, on Friday August 15, we’re taking action to hold the bank accountable. Here’s why and how you can get involved.
Just weeks after the inauguration, Wells Fargo became the only major U.S. bank to completely abandon its 2030 and 2050 climate goals, despite warnings from experts that we are headed toward catastrophic climate harms. The timing was not a coincidence.
Investigative reporting from Rolling Stone caught members of the Texas attorney general’s office boasting about how they had “bullied” Wells Fargo into dropping some of its climate commitments. The officials threatened to pull lucrative business from the bank and even pursue litigation if Wells Fargo did not comply with their pro-fossil-fuel agenda. So comply, it did.
In the same week, the bank ended a policy requiring diversity in senior-level hiring, despite its record of systematic racial discrimination against job candidates. Wells Fargo has long come under fire for racist practices, from millions in fines for charging Black and Latine homebuyers higher mortgage rates to urging shareholders to vote against reporting on workplace discrimination and harassment.
Wells Fargo has done more to advance Trump’s agenda than any other bank on Wall Street. That’s why this summer, we’re holding the bank accountable.
Then, Wells Fargo unveiled to the Trump administration its scheme to privatize the U.S. Postal Service. Their plan includes raising prices up to 140%, mass layoffs of unionized workers while slashing benefits for those remaining, and eliminating the unprofitable “Universal Service Obligation” to deliver mail to all U.S. addresses six days a week. A privatized post office would charge higher prices for worse service, while decimating good union jobs.
Not only is Wells Fargo caving to right-wing pressure, it is actively funding the fascist agenda, from mass deportations to genocide in Gaza. It is currently a lead banker on a $500 million revolving credit commitment to Palantir—a tech company that provides AI targeting technology to the Israeli military as it murders tens of thousands of Palestinians, and signed a $30 million contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to develop “ImmigrationOS,” a new immigrant surveillance software. Wells Fargo was also one of the financiers of a $500 million loan to Elbit Systems, a company that makes weapons and surveillance systems for the Israeli military and U.S. Customs and Border Protection alike.
This is not the first time Wells Fargo has funded colonialism and genocide—the bank was a major funder of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), despite fierce resistance from members of the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River tribal nations. Indigenous leaders have been fighting to get the pipeline—which is operating without a key permit—shut down ever since.
All the while, Wells Fargo is attempting to undermine unionization efforts, facing over 30 allegations of union busting, including the circulation of anti-union talking points from management, and attempts by senior executives to intimidate organizers. Twenty-eight bank branches have unionized so far, and workers continue to fight staff cuts, low pay, and poor benefits.
Under the helm of CEO Charles Scharf, who rakes in a $30 million salary, Wells Fargo has done more to advance Trump’s agenda than any other bank on Wall Street. That’s why this summer, we’re holding the bank accountable.
We’re demanding that Wells Fargo reinstate its climate targets, stop union busting, back off our public post office, commit to racial equity, and stop financing companies that are engaging in the war on immigrants and genocide in Gaza.
In July, our campaign kicked off with protests at the bank’s New York City and San Francisco offices, including seven activists who were arrested for engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience. The actions were organized by Standing Rock and Cheyenne River members alongside the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Arab Resource Organizing Center, and more than 100 climate activists.
On August 15, we’re planning a nationwide day of actions at Wells Fargo’s headquarters, corporate offices, and branches across the country, to make it clear that the bank cannot bend the knee to Trump without massive backlash.
In San Francisco, scientists and leaders from the Gulf South will shut down their headquarters for the fourth time in as many weeks. In Charlotte, where Wells Fargo has a major corporate office, faith leaders, alarmed by suffering to the planet and disregard for human dignity, will be delivering the message to several branches followed by a prayer vigil. In New York, communities will come together across movement spaces for a rally at Wells Fargo’s sumptuous corporate office building.
But it isn’t just in the cities where Wells Fargo has its corporate offices. All across the country, people will deliver a petition with tens of thousands of signatures to Wells Fargo. You can join an action near you, or sign up to organize an action of your own with support from our organizing team on August 15.
Wells Fargo has responded to pressure before: Following major public outcry, the bank announced in 2019 (during the last Trump term) that it would stop financing private prison companies. With the climate, labor, Indigenous rights, and Free Palestine movements joining forces, we can build the collective power needed to stop the fascist agenda.
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'US Mail Is Not For Sale': Americans Across Political Spectrum Oppose Postal Service Privatization
"Postal customers should trust their gut when it comes to schemes to sell off or transfer the USPS," said the head of the American Postal Workers Union.
May 08, 2025
As the Trump administration signaled a potential step toward privatizing the U.S. Postal Service with the reported selection of a FedEx board member to serve as postmaster general, new polling on Thursday showed just how strongly the American public would oppose such a move.
The survey by Hart Research Associates and North Star Opinion Research, which was commissioned by the American Postal Workers Union, found that 60% of respondents were opposed to privatizing the postal service, while just 26% were in favor.
The opposition cut across ideological, geographic, and demographic divides, with people in all regions of the country saying they wanted to maintain the USPS as a public service by a margin of at least 29 points—and as many as 40 points in western states.
While rural voters supported President Donald Trump by a 23-point margin in the 2024 election, the research firms posited that the heavy reliance people in far-flung areas have on the USPS helped push rural respondents to say they oppose privatization, with 58% saying they were against it.
As Common Dreams reported last month, an analysis by the Institute for Policy Studies found that private mail carriers like FedEx and UPS already charge "remote surcharges" to 8% of all U.S. ZIP Codes—home to nearly 4 million people—because they are in mountain communities and other remote areas. While USPS has a universal service obligation, people in rural areas pay up to $15.50 for deliveries from private companies.
Fifty-six percent of Americans said privatization would result in higher prices for mailing packages and letters, while 17% said prices were likely to improve.
Without competition from USPS, private companies could impose additional charges for weekend deliveries, fuel, residential deliveries, and more.
"Postal customers should trust their gut when it comes to schemes to sell off or transfer the USPS," said APWU president Mark Dimondstein. "Plans to privatize the Post Office are about enriching Wall Street and not serving Main Street. Evidence shows that selling off the USPS would lead to higher prices for postal services as well as higher prices for shipping packages at FedEx and UPS."
On the House floor recently, U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) warned that "corporations won't serve what isn't profitable."
"This isn't about efficiency," she said. "This is about dismantling public services so they can prove government doesn't work."
The poll was released two months after Wells Fargo presented a five-step plan for privatizing USPS to Wall Street investors, including raising USPS prices by as much as 140%, selling postal real estate to commercial bidders, and imposing mass layoffs on the service's 600,000 employees.
The bank said privatization would lead to the "harvesting," or closing, of neighborhood post offices across the country—something 72% of respondents opposed in Thursday's poll.
Trump ally Elon Musk also said in March that Amtrak and USPS were top targets for the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which the president selected him to lead and which has pushed to dismantle numerous government agencies and laid off nearly 300,000 federal employees.
"I think logically we should privatize anything that can reasonably be privatized," Musk said. Trump has also expressed support for privatization.
Respondents to Thursday's poll expressed support for a number of steps that could strengthen the U.S. Postal Service's finances, including 77% who backed making office supplies available for purchase in post offices, 72% who supported the selling of hunting and fishing licenses, and 60% who supported making magazines and newspapers available for purchase.
"The survey results indicate that the outlook is good in our ongoing fight against privatizers trying to sell off our public Postal Service for profit," said the APWU. "We should remain steady in our message—the U.S. Mail Is Not for Sale!"
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Protect the US Postal Service From Trump’s Privatization Scheme
Rather than selling this public treasure off to the highest bidder, we should explore opportunities for strengthening the Postal Service to deliver even better services in the 21st century.
Apr 16, 2025
- U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have expressed an interest in selling off the U.S. Postal Service to for-profit corporations. Even piecemeal privatization of this public agency would have wide-ranging effects on postal customers, employees, businesses, and our broader economy. One nearly certain result: a dramatic increase in package delivery prices.
Unlike the for-profit carriers, the Postal Service has a universal service obligation to provide affordable deliveries to all Americans, regardless of where they live or work. Currently, USPS parcel rates are about 25% to 60% below FedEx and UPS prices.
Would we want for-profit corporations handling our ballots?
Without competition from this public service, for-profit firms would jack up delivery fees on as many customers as possible. Who would be hit hardest? Most likely those who live or work in ZIP codes where private carriers already impose surcharges because deliveries to these addresses are less profitable.
A new Institute for Policy Studies report finds that UPS and FedEx area surcharges now apply to retail customers sending parcels using their own packaging to addresses in ZIP codes where 102 million Americans live. Not surprisingly, these include addresses in Hawaii, Alaska, and rural and remote areas. But they also cover many small towns and neighborhoods just outside major cities.
UPS and FedEx charge around $43 extra for shipments to Alaska and about $15 extra for deliveries to Hawaii and remote areas where nearly 4 million Americans live. The private carriers slap “extended area surcharges” of $8.30 on home deliveries in rural ZIP codes with a combined population of 35 million. Residential delivery surcharges run a little over $6 in suburban and small-town ZIP codes where 19 million people live.
Unlike the public Postal Service, the private carriers also impose extra charges for Saturday delivery, for fuel (based on distance), for package pickup, and for residential delivery. These charges reflect the higher costs for companies that, unlike USPS, aren’t already visiting every address six days a week.
Today’s higher FedEx and UPS delivery rates are just a taste of what would come if the Trump administration succeeds in privatizing USPS. In fact, Wells Fargo recently published a postal privatization plan that recommends hiking USPS parcel delivery rates by 30% to 140%. Their aim: to fatten up the hog before selling off this lucrative part of the postal business. Private carriers could also flat out refuse to deliver to far-flung addresses.
On top of higher delivery costs, rural communities would suffer the most from other impacts of a for-profit model. For instance, they would likely face the shuttering of many post offices and the related loss of postal jobs that pay decent wages with benefits.
Rural residents also rely heavily on USPS to deliver prescriptions, since many small-town pharmacies have shut down. The Postal Service also handles mail order prescriptions for military veterans, more than a quarter of whom live in rural areas.
During the 2024 general election, the Postal Service delivered more than 99 million ballots to or from voters. Rural voters rely particularly heavily on the mail-in option because physical polling sites are often long distances from their homes. Nationwide, half of rural county polling sites serve an area greater than 62 square miles, compared to just 2 square miles for urban sites. Would we want for-profit corporations handling our ballots?
Over its 250-year history, our public Postal Service has continually reinvented itself in response to changes in technology and the evolving needs of our society. Rather than selling this public treasure off to the highest bidder, we should explore opportunities for strengthening the Postal Service to deliver even better services in the 21st century.
In addition to the growing package delivery market, there are many opportunities for generating new revenue. For example, USPS could provide additional financial services, such as low-fee ATMs and check cashing. It could work with state and local governments to gather data on public safety and environmental risks through monitors on delivery vehicles. It could follow the models of some foreign postal services by providing check-in services for elderly and disabled residents.
With its extensive and valuable human resources and infrastructure, USPS has a strong foundation on which to continue providing a vital public service for all Americans for generations to come.
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Report Details Who Will Pay the Highest Price for Trump's Postal Service Privatization Push
"Without competition from our public Postal Service, for-profit firms would jack up delivery fees on as many customers as possible."
Apr 15, 2025
As U.S. President Donald Trump and his centi-billionaire ally Elon Musk revive the right-wing dream to privatize the public mail system, an analysis released Tuesday details how the pain already inflicted on over 100 million Americans by the for-profit delivery industry will only get worse if Trump's plan succeeds.
Americans already have the option of using private companies like FedEx and UPS to mail packages, and in about 25,000 ZIP codes where 102 million people live—about a third of the U.S. population—the corporations already pile on extra charges for deliveries, according to the report by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS).
Some of the ZIP codes lie in Alaska and Hawaii, where sending mail from the contiguous U.S. is predictably more expensive.
But private carriers also charge "remote surcharges" to about 8% of all U.S. ZIP codes because they are in mountain communities, ranchlands, and other remote areas that are home to nearly 4 million people. According to IPS, people pay up to $15.50 for deliveries in these regions when they use FedEx or UPS, but with the USPS universal service obligation, they pay nothing if they use the public mail carrier.
Thirty-five percent of U.S. ZIP codes are in rural areas where 35 million people pay up to $8.30 in "extended area surcharges" when they use a private delivery company. The companies also charge up to $6.20 for deliveries to certain suburban areas and smaller towns that are home to 19 million.
"Today's higher FedEx and UPS delivery rates are just a taste of what would come if the Trump administration succeeds in privatizing the U.S. Postal Service," said report author Sarah Anderson, director of the Global Economy Project at IPS. "Without competition from our public Postal Service, for-profit firms would jack up delivery fees on as many customers as possible."
Without USPS, the companies could also add to the various extra charges they already impose on customers for Saturday deliveries, fuel, and residential deliveries.
The rural communities that are currently served by USPS at no cost to residents would face a wide range of impacts if Trump moves forward with a reported plan to disband the Postal Board of Governors and place the service under the control of the Department of Commerce—a likely first step toward privatizing the agency.
"Today's higher FedEx and UPS delivery rates are just a taste of what would come if the Trump administration succeeds in privatizing the U.S. Postal Service."
On top of higher costs, these communities would lose postal jobs that pay decent wages with benefits as rural post offices would close. Military veterans, who use USPS to get 84% of their prescriptions and more than 25% of whom live in rural areas, would face potential disruption of essential services, and rural residents would could lose the ability to vote by mail.
Small businesses could face higher shipping costs, leading to lower profits or higher prices for their customers.
Privatizing USPS "could jeopardize our entire system of universal postal service," said Anderson.
The report was published weeks after Musk told a group of Wall Street bankers that USPS is a top target as he seeks to privatize the federal government "as much as possible," and after a Wells Fargo report laid out a five-step plan for privatizing the service.
The bank included in its framework raising USPS parcel service prices by as much as 30%-140%, to "generate economic parcel profits on a standalone basis," selling the service's parcel business to private investors, selling postal real estate to commercial bidders, imposing mass layoffs on USPS' 600,000 workforce, and repealing the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which converted the USPS into an independent agency.
IPS warned that postal privatization would "destroy a vital and truly democratic public service."
"This extensive, centuries-old network helped build up America's democracy and economy by spreading information and goods to every corner of the country," said IPS. "Over its 250-year history, USPS has continually reinvented itself in response to changes in technology and the evolving needs of our society. Rather than selling this public treasure off to the highest bidder, we should explore opportunities for strengthening the Postal Service to deliver even better services to the American public in the 21st century."
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Neither Snow, Nor Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor DOGE
Help family farmers and other rural folks defend a strong public U.S. Postal Service from the Trump administration’s attacks.
Mar 22, 2025
Since 1775 when Benjamin Franklin became the very first postmaster general, the United States Postal Service has faithfully fulfilled the many lofty goals that are now inscribed outside the entrance of the U.S. Postal Museum in Washington D.C.: “Bond of the Scattered Family; Enlarger of the Common Life; Carrier of News and Knowledge; Instrument of Trade and Commerce.”
Affordable universal reliable communication is not something many people can take for granted. In fact, the USPS was such a great American idea (like our national park system) that it has since been replicated across the globe. Under the pretense that the USPS is “bankrupt,” though, President Donald Trump and other neoliberal free marketeers are hellbent on imposing an austerity program and ultimately privatizing this vital public service.
During Trump’s last stint in the White House, USPS was forced to shutter half of its mail processing centers, leading to longer delivery times, and 10% of the nation’s post offices, mostly in rural towns, were put on the auction block. Despite such, the USPS continues to have some of the highest public approval ratings of any federal government agency. After all, who else can you trust to make sure you get your seed orders or drug prescriptions in a timely fashion?
Now is the time to speak up and insure the proud iconic eagle of the USPS is not replaced by some anemic vulture version.
How did this quite preventable (and orchestrated) mugging of the USPS come about? Well, one needs to go back a few decades when the government first opened the door for corporate competitors to undermine the viability of the USPS. At just 73 cents to deliver a first class letter, USPS rates remain among the lowest in the industrialized world. Given the surge in packages, accelerated by the pandemic, private outfits like Fedex and Amazon are now allowed to mooch off the USPS’ amazing efficiency to help deliver their own packages (saving themselves up to 75%). Contrary to some naysayers, the USPS does not get a dime from U.S. taxpayers—it provides a valuable public service at cost to consumers. So attacks on the USPS claiming it is “horribly wasteful” are just flat out wrong.
The USPS is also hamstrung from taking advantage of other ways to expand its services that many people, especially rural folks, desperately need. For example, the USPS still offers money orders, but many other countries’ postal systems offer a much wider range of popular financial services such as checking and savings accounts, even low-interest loans. One recent study found that the USPS could earn an extra $8-9 billion per year just by providing basic banking options to the millions of Americans who now subsist on the fringes of the financial system. It is no surprise that Wells Fargo is drooling over the possible demise of USPS (as revealed in a recently leaked internal memo), since they hardly want any other option for those now subject to their predatory lending practices.
Now is the time to speak up and insure the proud iconic eagle of the USPS is not replaced by some anemic vulture version. Family Farm Defenders is among dozens of organizations that have joined the Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal Service. And just like many family farmers rely upon cooperatives for their collective bargaining against agribusiness, postal workers also deserve to have their labor rights respected as fully unionized federal employees. Please contact your elected officials to insure the future of USPS as a vital public good, and next time you are at the post office thank the workers for their essential service! As the unofficial motto of the USPS goes: “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” Neither should DOGE!
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Alarm as DeJoy Teams Up With DOGE to Gut US Postal Service
One Democratic congresswoman called the partnership "a blatant move toward privatization."
Mar 14, 2025
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's Thursday announcement that the independent United States Postal Service is partnering with the Department of Government Efficiency on a cost-cutting crusade that includes a planned reduction of 10,000 workers stoked fears that one of America's most trusted and relied-upon federal agencies is on a path toward privatization.
In a
letter to congressional leaders, DeJoy said DOGE will help the USPS "in identifying and achieving further efficiencies." The postal chief listed "mismanagement" of the agency's retirement assets and workers' compensation program, "unfunded mandates imposed on us by legislation," and "burdensome regulatory requirements restricting normal business practice" as issues to be addressed.
Scoop: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy agreed last nigh to collaborate with DOGE "to assist us in identifying and achieving further efficiencies." Follows Monday meeting at USPS headquarters between DOGE & DeJoy. We've reported Trump considering privatizing USPS or merging with Commerce Dept.
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— Jacob Bogage ( @jacobbogage.bsky.social) March 13, 2025 at 10:59 AM
"The letter suggests alarming actions for DOGE to pursue that would easily lead to the privatization and politicization of the Postal Service," Democrats on the U.S. House Oversight Committee said in response to the announcement. "This includes DeJoy's call to gut or even terminate the Postal Regulatory Commission, the independent regulator of the Postal Service created by Congress and responsible for approving rate changes and ensuring appropriate service."
Brian Renfroe, president of the nearly 300,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), said Thursday that while "policy changes are needed to improve the Postal Service's financial viability... misguided ideas like privatization" are not the answer.
"Commonsense solutions are what the Postal Service needs, not privatization efforts that will threaten 640,000 postal employees' jobs, 7.9 million jobs tied to our work, and the universal service every American relies on daily," Renfroe added.
DeJoy—who last month announced his intent to step down after more than four years in office—has led a dramatic restructuring of the USPS, a constitutionally sanctioned agency. His tenure has been marred by allegations of criminal election obstruction, conflicts of interest, and other corruption. Critics have also warned that DeJoy's Delivering for America, a 10-year austerity plan, put the agency on a fast track toward slower service, job cuts, and, ultimately, privatization.
U.S. President Donald Trump has acknowledged that his administration is revisiting plans to possibly privatize the Postal Service—a policy recommended by the Office of Management and Budget during his first term. Last month, The Washington Post reported that Trump planned to fire the entire Postal Board of Governors and bring the independent USPS under control of the Department of Commerce, a move experts argue would likely be illegal.
Elon Musk, the de facto head of DOGE, said earlier this month that the USPS and Amtrak, the national passenger rail service, should be privatized.
DOGE's short but staggering track record of eviscerating federal agencies by dubiously firing tens of thousands of workers—a policy a federal judge found illegal on Thursday—is deeply concerning to many defenders of the Postal Service.
"The only thing worse for the Postal Service than DeJoy's Delivering for America plan is turning the service over to Elon Musk and DOGE so they can undermine it, privatize it, and then profit off Americans' loss," Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, said Thursday.
"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," the congressman added. "Reliable mail delivery can't just be reserved for MAGA supporters and Tesla owners."
Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.) said on social media Thursday: "Louis DeJoy just admitted he agreed to hand over the Postal Service to Elon Musk. This is a blatant move toward privatization, and I will fight to protect our postal workers and ensure affordable service—especially for rural communities."
Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) said the agreement "threatens millions who rely on USPS for medications, Social Security checks, and staying connected."
National days of action in defense of the Postal Service are planned for
March 20 by the American Postal Workers Union and March 23 by NALC.
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'We Can't Allow This to Happen': Musk Touts Postal Service, Amtrak Privatization
"This is their end goal: the privatization of as much of the U.S. government as possible, enriching the rich and leaving everyone else worse off," warned one progressive.
Mar 06, 2025
Elon Musk sparked calls Thursday to fight what one union called an "illegal power grab" after the senior adviser to President Donald Trump and de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency said that the United States Postal Service and Amtrak, the national passenger rail service, should be privatized.
"I think logically we should privatize anything that can reasonably be privatized," Musk—who is advising Trump on how to eviscerate federal agencies—said while appearing remotely at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference. "I think we should privatize the post office and Amtrak for example... We should privatize everything we possibly can."
"Basically, something's got to have some chance of going bankrupt, or there's not a good feedback loop for improvement," he opined.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employs more than 600,000 people. Amtrak has more than 21,000 workers.
"Big banks are already drawing up plans for a fire sale of the most profitable parts of our postal network."
Musk called the state of Amtrak "kind of embarrassing" and contrasted the U.S. rail system with the networks of countries including China, where the central government has financed the construction of nearly 30,000 miles (48,200 km) of high-speed lines. The United States has less than 300 miles of high-speed rail.
"Amtrak is a sad situation," Musk asserted. "It's like, if you're coming from another country, please don't use our national rail. It can leave you with a very bad impression of America."
Responding to Musk's remarks, Progressive Mass political director Jonathan Cohn said on social media, "This is their end goal: the privatization of as much of the U.S. government as possible, enriching the rich and leaving everyone else worse off."
Like Musk, Trump has also expressed support for privatizing the USPS, a move recommended by his Office of Management and Budget during his first term. The president also sought to slash Amtrak's funding during his first administration.
Last month, reporting that Trump is seeking to place the USPS under the control of the Commerce Department—which is led by billionaire cryptocurrency banker Howard Lutnick—sparked outrage and allegations of illegality.
"White House sources recently briefed the media that they were planning an illegal power grab of our public Postal Service," the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) said in an email this week responding to ongoing attacks on the USPS. "Such a power grab could allow them to put into action our greatest fear. Stripping our services and selling off our USPS."
"Big banks are already drawing up plans for a fire sale of the most profitable parts of our postal network, raising shipping costs for the public, and leaving taxpayers on the hook to fund the rest," APWU added. "We can't allow this to happen!"
Last month, longtime Postmaster General Louis DeJoy signaled he would step down by asking the United States Postal Service Board of Governors to begin selecting his successor. DeJoy's tenure has been marred by allegations of criminal election obstruction, conflicts of interest, and other corruption. His Delivering for America, a 10-year austerity plan, has been condemned by some critics as a roadmap to privatization.
It's not just the USPS and Amtrak. Key members of the Trump administration and their oligarch allies are pursuing policies and actions opponents argue are ultimately aimed at privatizing a sweeping range of federal agencies and services, from
public education to veterans' healthcare to mortgage lending, Social Security, Medicare, and more.
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House Dems Urge Biden to 'Swiftly' Appoint Postal Board Governors
"Five price hikes since 2020, continual service delivery problems, and constant declines in mail volume are all indicators that the business model of the Postal Service needs careful attention."
Feb 01, 2024
Scores of U.S. House Democrats on Thursday urged President Joe Biden to "swiftly" nominate two members to the Postal Service Board of Governors to fill empty seats amid delayed deliveries and higher customer prices.
"Given the fundamental role that the Postal Service plays in the lives of countless Americans, there must be great care taken to choose those who influence its direction," Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) said in a letter to Biden signed by 80 other Democratic lawmakers.
"Unfortunately, the Postal Service currently suffers from slow rates of delivery service and increased costs," the lawmakers asserted. "Despite the passage of the Postal Service Reform Act, the Postal Service still faces a litany of challenges. Five price hikes since 2020, continual service delivery problems, and constant declines in mail volume are all indicators that the business model of the Postal Service needs careful attention."
Noting the vacancy left by the expiration last month of Postal Govs. Lee Moak and William Zollars, the letter asks Biden to:
- Swiftly nominate two new members of the board to ensure no disruption in service to the American people; and
- Choose two candidates who will be wholly committed to lowering costs for everyday Americans and restoring the Postal Service as a public good to be enjoyed by all and not only those who can afford expensive specialty services.
"Now more than ever, it is important [to] have a full, diverse, and future-oriented Postal Board of Governors in place that will uphold its mission of public service," the lawmakers wrote.
Last October, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) asked the head of the Postal Service's accountability unit to launch an investigation into the impacts of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's 10-year austerity overhaul plan. Critics argue the plan is ultimately a privatization scheme championed by Republicans including former President Donald Trump, the 2024 GOP front-runner. DeJoy donated at least hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump's 2016 campaign prior to his appointment.
A Thursday
statement from Krishnamoorthi's office took aim at the USPS chief.
"Under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, far too many Americans, including rural Americans, small businesses, seniors, and tribal communities, have experienced increased costs and diminishing service," the statement said, "harming those who depend on the USPS for both personal and business correspondence."
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