Postmaster General Louis DeJoy plans to cut 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the US Postal Service budget, and he'll do that working with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, according to a letter sent to members of Congress on Thursday. DOGE will assist the USPS with addressing "big problems" at the $78 billion-a-year agency, which has sometimes struggled in recent years to stay afloat, per the AP. The agreement also includes the General Services Administration in an effort to help the Postal Service identify and achieve "further efficiencies."
The USPS listed such issues as mismanagement of the agency's retirement assets and Workers' Compensation Program, as well as an array of regulatory requirements that the letter described as "restricting normal business practice." "This is an effort aligned with our efforts, as while we have accomplished a great deal, there is much more to be done," DeJoy wrote. Critics of the agreement fear negative effects of the cuts will be felt across America. Democratic US Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia, who was sent the letter, said turning over the Postal Service to DOGE would result in it being undermined and privatized.
"This capitulation will have catastrophic consequences for all Americans—especially those in rural and hard-to-reach areas—who rely on the Postal Service every day to deliver mail, medications, ballots, and more," he said in a statement. The USPS currently employs about 640,000 workers tasked with making deliveries from inner cities to rural areas, and even far-flung islands. The service plans to cut 10,000 employees in the next 30 days through a voluntary early-retirement program, according to the letter. The agency previously announced plans to cut its operating costs by more than $3.5 billion annually. This also isn't the first time thousands of employees have been cut: In 2021, the agency let go of 30,000 workers.
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