Trump says US Postal Service transfer to Commerce Dept. under review

President Donald Trump on Friday said his next target for government downsizing and restructuring could be the U.S. Postal Service, which Americans rely on for delivery of everything from online purchases and prescription drugs to checks and election ballots.

Speaking to reporters during an event at the White House, the president acknowledged he is considering big changes for the financially strapped Postal Service, including giving the secretary of commerce authority over the independent agency.

“We want to have a post office that works well, that doesn’t lose massive amounts of money. We’re thinking about doing that. It will be a form of a merger,” Trump said in remarks broadcast on CNN.

The Washington Post on Thursday reported that the White House is getting ready to fire the postal board of governors and put the Department of Commerce in charge of the quasigovernmental agency. The union representing postal workers slammed the potential move, while some analysts, without endorsing a White House takeover, said the Postal Service is ripe for reform, as FreightWaves reported.

The White House has already moved to make several independent agencies answer to it as Trump tries to increase executive branch control of the federal government.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who took the job in 2020 with Trump’s backing, gave notice Monday of his intent to resign. His Delivering for America initiative is designed to streamline operations and reduce inefficiencies.

The Postal Service has been unable for years to cover its expenses through revenues generated from the sale of products and services. Expenses have grown faster than revenues in part due to rising compensation and benefits costs combined with continuing declines in volume for First-Class Mail, the agency’s most profitable product.

“The U.S. Postal Service does indeed need meaningful change, and we stand ready to help with efforts to protect mail delivery. Americans are frustrated with the U.S. Postal Service because it’s essential to our daily lives and the only courier able to deliver for all Americans, yet it has become prohibitively expensive and unreliable for businesses and consumers alike,” said Kevin Yoder, executive director of Keep US Posted, in a statement. “Our message to President Trump is to freeze the rates. Americans can’t afford the 11.5% July rate hike the board has been plotting. We also need to modernize the structure of USPS so that it is more efficient and accountable. Now is the time to create a more reliable, affordable Postal Service for all Americans.”

Keep US Posted is an advocacy group of consumers, nonprofits, newspapers, greeting card publishers, magazines, catalogs, forestry and recycling interests, and small businesses that opposes DeJoy’s efforts to slow some mail service and increase postage rates. 

Trump frequently talked in the past about privatizing the Postal Service, and taking away its independent status is seen by some as a possible first step toward making it a for-profit business.

Click here for more FreightWaves stories by Eric Kulisch.

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