Sarah K. Burris
March 18, 2025
RAW STORY
A U.S. Postal Service letter carrier makes a delivery in Fullerton, Calif. in August 2020 (Shutterstock/Matt Gush)
American Postal Workers Union President Miriam Bell is sending warning letters to carriers and other U.S. Postal Service workers amid concerns that Elon Musk and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy will privatize their operations.
Reporter Amee Vanderpool wrote on Tuesday that Bell's email was a response to a letter from DeJoy that was also sent to House and Senate leaders last week, which said that the new administration's team would "assist" the service in addressing the “mismanagement of the agency’s retirement assets and Worker’s Compensation Program.”
When he came into office, President Donald Trump created the "Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)" by executive order and tasked tech billionaire Elon Musk with navigating it. That initiative has been behind the upheaval and dismantling of government agencies. Websites, grants, programs, and employees have been cut or frozen under the promise that Trump will save taxpayers trillions.
ALSO READ: ‘Cracked under the pressure’: Alarm sounded as postal worker suicides quadruple
DeJoy sent another letter to officials on Monday, saying that he's received a "great deal of inquiry" from officials asking if the postal service was being privatized.
DeJoy didn't answer. Instead, he claimed, "the Postal Service is engaging in a historic level of transformational change.”
Bell told union members, "None of our jobs are safe at this point. Our collective bargaining rights are not safe. Please don't think it's no big deal. There has been no rationale utilized with past mass firings, and we have no reason to believe this would be different."
What has been different, she continued, is that the agency falls under Congress' purview.
Bell also announced the union was set to hold a nationwide rally on March 20 in 150 locations. The goal is to "educate the public on why privatization is bad business."
"An increase in postage rates up to 140%, reduced delivery areas, and more detrimental changes need to be shared with the public so they can contact their representatives and urge them to oppose privatization," the email continued.
DeJoy crafted a 10-year strategic plan that pledged to solve delivery problems and ensure the postal service would "break-even" by 2023. The net loss that year was $6.5 billion. The previous year, however, the USPS made a net income of $56 billion, wrote Vanderpool.
Read the full report here.
A U.S. Postal Service letter carrier makes a delivery in Fullerton, Calif. in August 2020 (Shutterstock/Matt Gush)
American Postal Workers Union President Miriam Bell is sending warning letters to carriers and other U.S. Postal Service workers amid concerns that Elon Musk and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy will privatize their operations.
Reporter Amee Vanderpool wrote on Tuesday that Bell's email was a response to a letter from DeJoy that was also sent to House and Senate leaders last week, which said that the new administration's team would "assist" the service in addressing the “mismanagement of the agency’s retirement assets and Worker’s Compensation Program.”
When he came into office, President Donald Trump created the "Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)" by executive order and tasked tech billionaire Elon Musk with navigating it. That initiative has been behind the upheaval and dismantling of government agencies. Websites, grants, programs, and employees have been cut or frozen under the promise that Trump will save taxpayers trillions.
ALSO READ: ‘Cracked under the pressure’: Alarm sounded as postal worker suicides quadruple
DeJoy sent another letter to officials on Monday, saying that he's received a "great deal of inquiry" from officials asking if the postal service was being privatized.
DeJoy didn't answer. Instead, he claimed, "the Postal Service is engaging in a historic level of transformational change.”
Bell told union members, "None of our jobs are safe at this point. Our collective bargaining rights are not safe. Please don't think it's no big deal. There has been no rationale utilized with past mass firings, and we have no reason to believe this would be different."
What has been different, she continued, is that the agency falls under Congress' purview.
Bell also announced the union was set to hold a nationwide rally on March 20 in 150 locations. The goal is to "educate the public on why privatization is bad business."
"An increase in postage rates up to 140%, reduced delivery areas, and more detrimental changes need to be shared with the public so they can contact their representatives and urge them to oppose privatization," the email continued.
DeJoy crafted a 10-year strategic plan that pledged to solve delivery problems and ensure the postal service would "break-even" by 2023. The net loss that year was $6.5 billion. The previous year, however, the USPS made a net income of $56 billion, wrote Vanderpool.
Read the full report here.
Democrats Demand Hearing on 'Backroom Agreement' Between DOGE and DeJoy
"Any potential deal that would give Elon Musk and his DOGE associates unilateral authority to manipulate the most critical, expansive national mail network on the planet is deeply troubling," wrote a group of House Democrats.
U.S. Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy speaks during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on February 24, 2021.
(Photo: Graeme Jennings/POOL/AFP)
Eloise Goldsmith
Mar 17, 2025
COMMONDREAMS
A group of House Democrats is demanding that the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform conduct a public hearing on the Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency's plans for the U.S. Postal Service, in light of recent reporting that U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says he signed an agreement with DOGE to assist the nation's mail service "in identifying and achieving further efficiencies."
The news follows Washington Post coverage from February, when the outlet reported that U.S. President Donald Trump is considering putting the Postal Service under the control of the Commerce Department. In December, the Post also reported that Trump was eyeing privatizing the Postal Service. Elon Musk, a GOP megadonor who is playing a core role in Trump's efforts to slash federal spending and personnel, has also said the Postal Service should be privatized.
Postal workers unions are fiercely opposed to any effort to privatize the Postal Service.
"The Trump administration... is now subjecting the USPS, America's most trusted federal institution, to the chainsaw approach of Elon Musk and DOGE. This broad assault on the independence of the USPS demands congressional oversight, especially from the committee with jurisdiction over the USPS," according to the letter, which was signed by 20 House Democrats.
In a March 13 letter to congressional leaders, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Congress he signed an agreement with representatives from Elon Musk's DOGE and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) so that DOGE could help the U.S. Postal Service, which has experienced billions in financial losses in recent years, work to address "big problems."
The Postal Service plans to cut 10,000 employees in the next 30 days through a voluntary early retirement program, according to DeJoy's letter.
DeJoy cited challenges facing the Postal Service, such as "mismanagement of our self-funded retirement assets," "burdensome regulatory requirements restricting normal business practice," and "unfunded mandates imposed on us by legislation."
The letter demanding a public hearing, which was addressed to House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), was spearheaded by Oversight Committee Ranking Member Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), and Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.)
"This backroom agreement between the billionaire-led DOGE and Postmaster DeJoy sets off alarm bells about this administration's plans for the Postal Service's role as a cornerstone public institution," according to the letter. "The Postal Service facilitates the delivery of more than 115 billion pieces of mail each year, a significant portion of which is delivered to rural, low-income, and hard-to-reach areas that would not otherwise receive service if not for the universal service obligation, which has received bipartisan support in Congress and is integral to the mission of Postal Service."
"We agree that there are steps Congress could take to strengthen the financial sustainability of the Postal Service, but any potential deal that would give Elon Musk and his DOGE associates unilateral authority to manipulate the most critical, expansive national mail network on the planet is deeply troubling," they continued.
The group is urging that the committee hold a hearing and wrote that they have prepared a letter to send to DeJoy asking that he furnish any signed agreements he made with the GSA and DOGE. The group is urging that Comer also sign on to that letter.
"Any potential deal that would give Elon Musk and his DOGE associates unilateral authority to manipulate the most critical, expansive national mail network on the planet is deeply troubling," wrote a group of House Democrats.
U.S. Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy speaks during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on February 24, 2021.
(Photo: Graeme Jennings/POOL/AFP)
Eloise Goldsmith
Mar 17, 2025
COMMONDREAMS
A group of House Democrats is demanding that the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform conduct a public hearing on the Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency's plans for the U.S. Postal Service, in light of recent reporting that U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says he signed an agreement with DOGE to assist the nation's mail service "in identifying and achieving further efficiencies."
The news follows Washington Post coverage from February, when the outlet reported that U.S. President Donald Trump is considering putting the Postal Service under the control of the Commerce Department. In December, the Post also reported that Trump was eyeing privatizing the Postal Service. Elon Musk, a GOP megadonor who is playing a core role in Trump's efforts to slash federal spending and personnel, has also said the Postal Service should be privatized.
Postal workers unions are fiercely opposed to any effort to privatize the Postal Service.
"The Trump administration... is now subjecting the USPS, America's most trusted federal institution, to the chainsaw approach of Elon Musk and DOGE. This broad assault on the independence of the USPS demands congressional oversight, especially from the committee with jurisdiction over the USPS," according to the letter, which was signed by 20 House Democrats.
In a March 13 letter to congressional leaders, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Congress he signed an agreement with representatives from Elon Musk's DOGE and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) so that DOGE could help the U.S. Postal Service, which has experienced billions in financial losses in recent years, work to address "big problems."
The Postal Service plans to cut 10,000 employees in the next 30 days through a voluntary early retirement program, according to DeJoy's letter.
DeJoy cited challenges facing the Postal Service, such as "mismanagement of our self-funded retirement assets," "burdensome regulatory requirements restricting normal business practice," and "unfunded mandates imposed on us by legislation."
The letter demanding a public hearing, which was addressed to House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), was spearheaded by Oversight Committee Ranking Member Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), and Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.)
"This backroom agreement between the billionaire-led DOGE and Postmaster DeJoy sets off alarm bells about this administration's plans for the Postal Service's role as a cornerstone public institution," according to the letter. "The Postal Service facilitates the delivery of more than 115 billion pieces of mail each year, a significant portion of which is delivered to rural, low-income, and hard-to-reach areas that would not otherwise receive service if not for the universal service obligation, which has received bipartisan support in Congress and is integral to the mission of Postal Service."
"We agree that there are steps Congress could take to strengthen the financial sustainability of the Postal Service, but any potential deal that would give Elon Musk and his DOGE associates unilateral authority to manipulate the most critical, expansive national mail network on the planet is deeply troubling," they continued.
The group is urging that the committee hold a hearing and wrote that they have prepared a letter to send to DeJoy asking that he furnish any signed agreements he made with the GSA and DOGE. The group is urging that Comer also sign on to that letter.
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