The United States Postal Service is in dire fiscal straits. America’s mail carrier recently announced that it lost $9.5 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2024, up from $6.5 billion in FY 2023. Things clearly aren’t looking good for any organization that needs “aggressive actions” to keep 10-year losses limited to “only” $70 billion instead of $160 billion. The turnover in presidential administrations offers some hope for change, but decades of failed policymaking should humble even the most partisan observers. Absent Congress stepping in and demanding reform, business as usual will continue at a substantial cost. Lawmakers must push postal leadership away from these failed policies and pursue real reform.
For almost four years, outgoing President Joe Biden has made it his mission to oust Postmaster General (PMG) Louis DeJoy as the USPS’ chief executive. PMG DeJoy certainly hasn’t had many fans on the left because of his efforts to remove mail collection boxes and consolidate facilities. These efforts first started a few months before the 2020 presidential election, and fueled conspiracies that DeJoy was trying to rig the election for Trump.
President Biden may not be fond of DeJoy, but that doesn’t mean he could replace him overnight – or even over a term. It’s up to the nine presidentially-appointed governors on the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors to hire or fire the PMG. These governors need a majority to can DeJoy, which is why Biden has nominated DeJoy-critics such as former U.S. Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) to the board.
