Postmaster General Dejoy announces he is stepping down

WASHINGTON – Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced his intention to step down in February, notifying the the Postal Service Board of Governors that it is time for them to begin the process of identifying his successor.

No time frame for naming a successor was given.

DeJoy took the helm of the postal service in the summer of 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first term. He was a Republican donor who owned a logistics business before taking office and was the first postmaster general in nearly two decades who was not a career postal employee.

DeJoy developed a 10-year plan to modernize operations and stem losses. He previously said that postal customers should get used to “uncomfortable” rate hikes as the postal service seeks to stabilize its finances and become more self-sufficient, the AP reported.

The plan, which is in its fourth year of enactment, calls for making the mail delivery system more efficient and less costly by consolidating mail processing centers. Critics, including members of Congress from several states, have said the first consolidations slowed service and that further consolidations could particularly hurt rural mail delivery.

According to Politico, “DeJoy has ruffled feathers on both sides of the aisle. Last year, DeJoy was criticized by both Republicans and Democrats for blocking lawmakers from visiting U.S. postal facilities. Democrats were also sharply critical over how DeJoy led the agency during the pandemic, including clashes over the deliverability of mail ballots in 2020.”

After DeJoy’s announcement, The National Newspaper Association notified members NNA will continue to “stress the unacceptable service and punitive rate increases that the Delivering for America plan has imposed on community newspaper publishers.”