MW What are Trump's USPS plans? His past postal-service comments offer clues.

By Victor Reklaitis

Trump talked about privatization in December, while critics of going private say it would raise prices and lead to shuttered post offices

President Donald Trump could be working on an overhaul for the U.S. Postal Service, though the White House is pushing back on growing expectations on that front.

Multiple published reports late Thursday indicated an executive order targeting the USPS could come as soon as this week and aim to dissolve the USPS governing board and place the agency under the Commerce Department.

But the White House said no such order is in the works, adding that Trump's newly confirmed commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, is not pushing for it. Trump is slated to take part in a swearing-in ceremony for Lutnick around 2:30 p.m. Eastern time Friday.

Trump previously has voiced some support for a shakeup for the postal service, as he said two months ago that privatization was under consideration.

"Well, there is talk about the postal service being taken private. You do know that. Not the worst idea I've ever heard. It really isn't. You know, it's a lot different today with - between Amazon $(AMZN)$ and UPS $(UPS)$ and FedEx $(FDX)$ 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," Trump told reporters in December, a month before his inauguration. "We're looking at it."

Trump administration officials called for privatization of the postal service during his first presidency, and Trump himself often criticized the agency during his first term.

Critics of privatization have said such a move is likely to increase the price that people pay for mailing letters and packages, as well as lead to closures of post offices, especially in rural areas where the cost of an outpost often exceeds its revenue.

The postal service reported a "controllable loss" for its 2024 fiscal year of $1.8 billion, down from $2.2 billion in the prior year. It said the controllable loss excludes certain expenses that are not controllable by management. For the 2025 fiscal year's first quarter, which ended on Dec. 31, the agency reported controllable income of $968 million, up from $472 million for the same period a year ago.

The postal service said in a statement on Tuesday that its head, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, plans to step down and has notified the agency's board of governors that it's time to find his successor. The statement noted the agency is going through a 10-year transformation plan, dubbed "Delivering for America," in an effort to modernize the postal network, restore long-term financial sustainability and improve service.

The postal service, which has more than 600,000 employees, didn't immediately respond on Friday to a request for comment. The American Postal Workers Union, which represents more than 200,000 USPS employees and retirees, offered criticism and promised resistance.

"Efforts to privatize the Postal Service, in whole or in part, or to strip it of its independence or public service mission, would be of no benefit to the American people," said APWU President Mark Dimondstein in a statement.

"Postal workers and our unions will join with the public to fight for the vibrant, independent, and public Postal Service we all deserve," he also said.

The president of another union, Brian Renfroe from the National Association of Letter Carriers, said his group's 280,000 members are "fighting like hell against any privatization efforts or reorganizational mandates."

Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia also expressed outrage over the reports about a USPS overhaul, saying in a social-media post that it sounded "brazenly illegal, unconstitutional, and corrupt."

-Victor Reklaitis

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February 21, 2025 13:51 ET (18:51 GMT)

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