Postmaster General, Who Gave Himself An “A” For Gutting Rural Mail Delivery, Is Quitting

Louis DeJoy announced Monday in a letter that he plans to step down as postmaster general and that it’s time for the USPS Board of Governors to seek his successor.

The announcement follows months of controversy over the U.S. Postal Service’s rollout of Delivering for America, which has attracted criticism from both sides of the political aisle. 

The cost-cutting plan would speed mail service in more populous areas of the country at the expense of rural mail delivery, which would become much slower.

DeJoy’s letter did not mention a departure date, but the embattled leader said he would continue to be “as helpful as possible in facilitating a transition that is least impactful to the Postal Service and the American people, and that positions my successor and the Postal Service for long-term success” during the search for his successor.   

The development was characterized as “good news” from Wyoming public officials, who have criticized the idea of moving all of Wyoming’s major mail processing capabilities to other states.

“This news is a long time coming and good news for the future of rural mail service, including in Wyoming, and for the future of mail service across the United States,” Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray told Cowboy State Daily. “I’m hopeful that with new leadership, USPS’s awful plan to move mail processing from Wyoming will be withdrawn entirely.”

Gray has repeatedly said that the idea of moving most of the state’s mail processing to neighboring states is deeply troubling and threatens the integrity of the state’s elections. 

“DeJoy appeared unwilling, time and time again, to be responsive to concerns raised by the people of Wyoming, and across the United States,” Gray said.

Wyoming’s Congressional Delegation, meanwhile, suggested the fight against Delivering for America is not necessarily over just because DeJoy is resigning.

“The Delivering for American Plan remains intact and is bad for Wyoming,” Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming said. “Last week, I introduced two bills to maintain and improve postal service in Wyoming, and remain steadfast in pushing for systematic changes needed to ensure reliable mail delivery.”

Cowboy State Daily has reached out to Sens. Cynthia Lummis and John Barrasso for comment as well, but had not received a response by the time of this article’s posting. 

Defiant Despite Pushback

DeJoy was defiant in the letter he sent Monday to the Board of Governors for USPS, in which he announced he would step down and appears to still be giving himself an “A” as head of the U.S. Postal Service. 

He said that he had worked “tirelessly” to lead the Postal Service’s 640,000 men and women in accomplishing an “extraordinary transformation.”

“Our achievement of $1 billion in controllable income and $140 million in (General Accepted Accounting Principles) profit for the most recent quarter is a strong indicator that the Postal Service is on the path to fulfilling its long-neglected legal duty to operate in a self-financing manner,” he wrote in the letter. “We have reduced the cost of operations and have grown revenue substantially while executing a massive organizational and operational transformation. Our new package shipping products are extremely popular and are overtaking the marketplace.”

But DeJoy added, despite his success, instead of getting easier his job has gotten ever more “Herculean,” which he said reflected the poor condition of the Postal Service when he began, historic inflation, the consequences of a global pandemic, and the “illogical and irrational scrutiny from those who have no responsibility for ensuring the financial viability of the Postal Service.”

“This, combined with industry lobbying, has held the organization back in the past from making the necessary changes,” DeJoy said. “I have fought against this, and as a result, I believe that I can fairly say that my tenure has been one of high expectations and vigorous action.”

Postal Service Projects Losses

While DeJoy touted the most recent, profit-making quarter — one of the first in a long time for the Postal Service — as proof that his concept is on the right track, the Postal Service is nonetheless on track to lose an overall $6.9 billion for fiscal year 2025.

The Postal Regulatory Commission, meanwhile, has questioned whether the Delivering for America can deliver the savings it has promised.

In its advisory opinion, the regulator warned that DeJoy’s plan relies on defective modeling and overestimates cost-savings, while meanwhile changing the network in a way that isn’t likely to lay a “foundation for success” at the troubled agency.

The analysis was part of a non-binding review of Delivering for America, triggered because the plan changers all or substantially all of Amercia’s mail delivery. 

While agreeing with DeJoy that the Postal Service faces extreme challenges and that change is necessary, the PRC said the plan is also glossing over the disproportionate downgrading of service standards for rural areas. 

“In considering the Postal Service’s claims that service performance and reliability will improve as a result of its proposed changes, the Commission is concerned that the opposite may occur, as demonstrated by the considerable decline in service performance in areas such as Richmond, Virginia, and Atlanta, Georgia, where the proposed network changes have already been implemented,” the PRC said.

Their analysis found 49.5% of all ZIP Code pairs for letters and postcards, the most common type of mail for most American households, will experience downgraded service, as will many periodicals and package services. A disproportionate amount of those affected ZIP Codes are in rural areas.

Postal Workers’ Hope For Successor

Postal Workers have been among those warning of much the same thing when Delivering for America was rolled out.

On Tuesday, Ricci Roberts, branch president of the Cheyenne mail handling unit, told Cowboy State Daily she’s hoping that a successor to DeJoy means a brighter future ahead.

Much will depend though, on how that successor views the Delivering for America Plan. 

While DeJoy, in his letter, urged the USPS Board of Governors to hire someone who will see his plan through, that’s not what Roberts said she is hoping for.

“I hope they replace him with someone that has postal knowledge and experience,” she said. “Right now, we are left in the middle of the 10-year plan, holding the pieces.”

She also said that for DeJoy to leave in the middle of his plan is “truly wild and unexpected” but she credited the efforts of Wyoming’s Congressional delegation, both for applying pressure to DeJoy and for their support of U.S. Postal Service workers.

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.