US Post Officer Louis DeJoy said earlier this month that he called on the government efficiency team led by Elon Musk to help with many issues.
DeJoy, who has been heading the agency since 2020, said in February he asked the US Postal Service (USPS) steering committee to identify his successor, but recently he gave no indication that he was planning to step down abruptly.
Donald Trump said in February that he was considering merging the move Democrats violated federal law with the U.S. Postal Service and the Commerce Department.
“There is still a lot of work left to maintain our positive trajectory,” DeJoy said in a statement, adding that Deputy Master General Doug Turino will lead the agency until the Postal Commission has named a permanent successor. They hired a search company, he added.
Dejoy has led a dramatic effort to rebuild USPS over the past five years. This included reducing the 10-year accumulated loss from $160 billion to $800 billion. The resigning postmaster uses tactics similar to the Musk-led “Ministry of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) team, including reducing the workforce and canceling or renegotiating contracts.
Two media outlets reported last month that Trump is preparing to issue an executive order to fire the USPS board.
Musk said this month that he thought USPS should be privatized.
USPS, an agency with 635,000 employees that lost $9.5 billion last year, is exempt from cutting DOGE-oriented federal employees.
The White House did not immediately comment on whether he was involved in DeJoy’s departure. Last week, the White House ousted the CEO of U.S. Passenger Rail Service Amtrak.
