Louis DeJoy’s tenure at USPS has officially been returned to sender. 

Postmaster DeJoy — the former businessman who rose to the position during the first Trump administration and led USPS through a pandemic, a surge in mail-in voting, and repeated financial crises — officially stepped down on Monday. 

His departure could spell trouble for the 635,000 postal workers who keep the mail flowing — and for the people who depend on its services. During DeJoy’s tenure, around 30,000 USPS employees left the agency. 

It also could spell some major changes to the agency, including President Trump’s proposed ‘merger.’  

In some parts of the country, service has slowed due to job cuts, and consolidated delivery routes have extended the time it takes for letters to reach rural mailboxes. 

The agency announced an early retirement program that USPS expects around 10,000 employees will opt into. 

But DeJoy’s departure is sparking new uncertainty for the millions of Americans who depend on the postal service for prescription meds and birthday cards. 

And if the White House gets its way, the agency could be headed for its biggest shake-up in 250 years. 

The USPS might soon deliver mail at an even slower pace

As President Trump returns to the Oval Office and Musk pushes DOGE’s whack-a-mole approach to cutting the federal government’s size, officials have turned their sights on USPS’s financial struggles. 

Trump and Musk have both floated the idea of spinning the postal service out of the federal government and into private hands for the first time in history. 

The for-profit change would come after mounting yearly loses for the post office. 

In 2024, USPS reported a $6.5 billion loss. Top brass expect the bleeding to continue, with an estimated $9 billion loss in 2025. 

To stem the outflow of cash, previous administrators raised the price of stamps. 

From 2019 to 2025, DeJoy hiked the price of a standard stamp from $0.50 to $0.73 — a 36 percent increase. 

The hikes have been unpopular, driving up shipping costs for small businesses and playing a role in rising consumer prices. 

President Trump has also suggested moving the agency under Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s oversight. 

‘We want to have a post office that works well and doesn’t lose massive amounts of money,’ the President said during Lutnick’s swearing-in. 

Postmaster Louis DeJoy, a Trump appointee, headed the agency for five years

The USPS has slashed thousands of jobs, leading customers to complain about late packages

The agency is going through seismic change – Trump has threatened even bigger adjustments 

 ‘We’re thinking about doing that, and it will be a form of a merger.’

It’s unclear whether USPS would function better as a private company or a smaller government agency. 

USPS’s core mission — to deliver mail to all Americans, regardless of rural, urban, or island residency — has long been a financial drain. 

That obligation would either put a private company at a severe disadvantage against competitors like FedEx and UPS.

In a smaller agency, it could continue to cost the federal government billions or become even less efficient. 

But, to many outsiders, its clear the agency needed a new direction. 

USPS has spent billions of dollars to electrify its fleet of trucks – a task that multiple private companies have done at a profit – only to get a few hundred delivered in years of work.