US postmaster general resigns with immediate effect | US news

The US postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, who said earlier this month that he had asked the government efficiency team led by Elon Musk for assistance with a number of issues, is resigning effective on Monday, the agency said.

DeJoy, who has headed the agency since 2020, in February said he had asked the US Postal Service (USPS) governing board to identify his successor but had given no indication in recent days that he planned to step down abruptly.

Donald Trump said in February that he was considering merging the United States Postal Service with the commerce department, a move Democrats said would violate federal law.

“Much work remains that is necessary to sustain our positive trajectory,” DeJoy said in a statement, adding that the deputy postmaster general, Doug Tulino, would head the agency until the postal board names a permanent successor. They have hired a search firm, he added.

DeJoy has led a dramatic effort to restructure USPS over the last five years, including cutting forecast cumulative losses over a decade to $80bn from $160bn. The outgoing postal chief has used tactics similar to the Musk-led “department of government efficiency” (Doge) team, including shrinking the workforce and canceling or renegotiating contracts.

Two media outlets reported last month that Trump was preparing to issue an executive order to fire the USPS’s board of governors.

Musk said this month he thought USPS should be privatized.

USPS, an agency with 635,000 employees that lost $9.5bn last year, has been exempt from Doge-directed federal employee reductions.

The White House did not immediately comment on whether it had any involvement in DeJoy’s departure. Last week, the White House forced out the chief executive of the US passenger railroad service Amtrak.