FILE PHOTO: A United States Postal Service (USPS) collection box is pictured in Washington, U.S., December 18, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
A Top Democrat warned Thursday that "catastrophic consequences" will follow after the financially strapped U.S. Postal Service struck a deal with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.
Louis DeJoy, the postmaster general and Republican megadonor, told lawmakers in a letter Thursday he came to an agreement with Musk's team to help in "identifying and achieving further efficiencies," The New York Times reported.
President Donald Trump and Musk have previously suggested privatizing the nation's government-run postal service, which has about 635,000 workers. DeJoy said DOGE is an "effort aligned" with his own efforts, the Times reported, noting the Postal Service has seen its workforce reduced by 30,000 over the last four years. The agency plans to ax 10,000 more in the next month, too.
DeJoy said his agency as evolved from a “battered government bureaucracy” vulnerable to collapse to an agency “experiencing an unprecedented period of growth and innovation."
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"Our strategies have focused on maintaining a modified, but sustainable, universal service mission that was noble when constructed, still meritorious today, and that can be financially self-sufficient with the changes we are pursuing,” DeJoy wrote in his letter.
But Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the top Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which oversees the agency, expressed anger over the deal, telling the Times in a statement the agreement will bring “catastrophic consequences for all Americans — especially those in rural and hard-to-reach areas — who rely on the Postal Service every day.”
Connolly added that the “only thing worse for the Postal Service" would be if it were turned over to Musk so he could “undermine it, privatize it, and then profit off Americans’ loss.”
The Postal Service has seen significant annual losses in recent years, including a $9.5 billion net loss in fiscal year 2024 and a projected $6.9 billion net loss for this fiscal year. The agency said more than 80 percent of its losses stem from fixed expenses — such as retiree pension obligations and workers' compensation costs.