Donald Trump says he's considering taking control of US Postal Service
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump said Friday he's considering having his administration take control of the U.S. Postal Service, which operates as an independent mail agency, and merge it into the Commerce Department.
"We want to have a post office that works well and doesn't lose massive amounts of money. And we're thinking about doing that," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, shortly after Howard Lutnick was sworn in as his new Commerce secretary.
Trump's remarks, which came in response to a question from a reporter, followed a Washington Post report that Trump is planning to fire the Postal Service's nine-member governing board and place the agency under control of the Commerce Department.
"It'll be a form of a merger, but it'll remain the Postal Service," Trump said. "And I think it'll operate a lot better than it has been over the years. It's been just a tremendous loser for this country."
The Post reported Trump is planning an executive order to fire members of the governing board, but the White House said no such order is planned.
Members of the Postal Service's board of governors are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
The Postal Service board retained outside legal counsel at an emergency meeting Thursday night, according to the Post, and gave a go-ahead to sue the Trump administration if the White House moves forward on removing board members or taking away the agency's independent status.
Amber McReynolds, the chair of the board who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, did not respond to a message from Paste BN.
The potential shakeup at the Postal Service come as Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, led by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, has moved rapidly through the federal government to slash agencies and cut the federal workforce.
Earlier this week, Trump-appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, said he is planning on stepping down and has asked the Postal Service to begin looking for his successor. DeJoy, a retired logistics executive and Republican fundraiser, has served as postmaster general since 2020.
Trump has long criticized the Postal Service, which has more than 530,000 full-time employees and serves more than 163 million addresses across the country. The Postal Service has reported a net loss of $100 billion since 2007.
In December, before being sworn in as president, Trump floated the possibility of privatizing the Postal Service.
“There is a lot of talk about the Postal Service being taken private,” Trump said at the time. “It’s a lot different today, between Amazon and UPS and FedEx and all the things that you didn't have. But there is talk about that. It's an idea that a lot of people have liked for a long time.”
The Postal Service is implementing a 10-year restructuring plan announced by DeJoy in 2021 that aims to eliminate $160 billion in predicted losses over the next decade. The agency now projects $80 billion in losses over the period and plans further cuts to address the shortfall.
"Tremendous amounts of money are being lost," Trump said Friday. "And we think we can do something that will be very good."
Contributing: Reuters. Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.