(Photo Via Deposit Photos)
Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service Louis DeJoy accelerated his retirement, which he announced this past February, resigning effective yesterday in the face of reported clashes with members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The resignation comes after the USPS posted its first quarterly profit since fiscal 2022, which was the first profit in 15 years. Net income at the USPS reportedly was $144 million for the first quarter of its fiscal 2025, compared to a net loss of $2.1 billion for the same quarter last year.
Modernization of the system and aggressive price increases were the primary reasons for the profit. Pricing for nonprofit rates have not been spared. The anticipated increases reported are premised on USPS using all of its rate authority. The anticipated increases are:
- First Class 8% (an 80-cent first class stamp)
- Marketing Mail Letters … 11.6%
- Marketing Mail Flats … 13.6%
- Periodicals … 9.4%
There will be changes to the workshare discount system. Discounts for delivery to network distribution centers (DNDC) are being discontinued and those for sectional center facility delivery (DSCF) will be decreased. Co-mingling might become the money-saver of last resort for many, according to information from The Nonprofit Alliance.
The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) this past February granted a USPS request to get a refund from all mailers for the revenue it did not receive due to mailers’ having taken advantage of USPS promotional discounts. The July rates will include the predicted cap amounts plus an additional amount attributable to the PRC-approved claw-back.
The mail will also be slower, with the USPS is expected to add a day to its service standards which will, among other things, add a day to business reply mail delivery.
Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino will take over from DeJoy until the USPS Governors select a permanent postmaster general. DeJoy wrote in a letter to USPS staff expressing confidence in Tulino and the organization. Perhaps DeJoy’s most lasting achievement was getting Congress to rescind the 2006 law requiring the USPS to prepay the next 50 years of health and retirement benefits for its workforce. No other federal agency was covered by the rule.
President Donald J. Trump has publicly stated his intention to attempt to move the USPS into the U.S. Department of Commerce. Stephen Kearney, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, explained that any change to the Postal Service’s structure would require congressional approval.
The Postal Service is an independent agency governed by a board nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. That board, which by law must be bipartisan, jointly hires and oversees the postmaster general and is responsible for major decisions at the agency, such as service and price changes.