Trump Expected to Take Control of USPS, Dismiss Board

President Donald Trump intends to dismiss the board of directors of the U.S. Postal Service and take more direct control of the agency, according to exclusive reporting from The Washington Post.

The Post on Thursday cited six anonymous officials familiar with President Trump's plans.

The plan as reported would dissolve the USPS board of directors by executive order and move control of the service under the Department of Commerce. It stands to affect trillions of dollars' worth of commercial communication and shipping that moves through the Postal Service and more than 600,000 employees who currently work for the agency.

The outcome would be in line with similar recent actions President Trump has taken, including the consolidation by executive order of independent agencies and regulators to bring them under White House control. Like those actions, however, a takeover of USPS is likely to generate new lawsuits against President Trump and the administration.

Louis DeJoy, current head of the USPS, said he plans to step down, sending a letter to the USPS board on Monday directing it to start the search for someone to replace him.

DeJoy started as Postmaster General in 2020 during President Trump's first term and was unusual for not first being a postal employee. He developed a plan to streamline the Postal Service and save it money by consolidating its operations into fewer mail centers.

It is not yet clear whether Trump intends to follow that plan.