Trump reportedly plans to take control of USPS in step toward privatization

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration is planning to fire members of the independent government board that oversees the US Postal Service, a move that could serve as a step toward privatizing the service, according to multiple published reports.

The Washington Post first reported late Thursday, citing numerous anonymous sources, that President Donald Trump planned to disband the Postal Regulatory Commission and place the agency under direct control of the Commerce Department and Secretary Howard Lutnick. The Wall Street Journal also Friday reported on the plan to dissolve the commission, citing government officials.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is resigning ahead of an expected privatization to ease financial hemorrhaging within the postal service.

The White House and Postal Service did not respond to requests for comment. But a White House official denied to the Post and Journal that Trump planned to sign such an order.

Other countries have privatized their postal services. But a plan to privatize the 250-year old service that predates the formation of the United States, could dramatically change the way Americans get everything a wide range of critical deliveries, including online purchases, prescription drugs, checks and vote-by-mail ballots.

It could even end the long-held requirement of universal delivery to all homes and businesses, rather than just those that are profitable to serve. Even many online purchases handled by private firms such as United Parcel Service depend upon the the Postal Service to handle the "last mile" delivery to homes.

In December, then President-elect Trump said privatizing the USPS is "not the worst idea I've ever heard."

"It's an idea that a lot of people have liked for a long time," Trump said at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. "We're looking at it." Trump dropped previous plans to try to privatize the service in 2018 during his first term.

But it's unlikely Trump would be able to privatize the agency without Congressional approval, given the many federal laws that control the quasi-independent service. Among those laws is the one requiring universal delivery, as well as one outlawing a strike by USPS employees. With a 600,000-person, heavily unionized work force, the USPS is one of the nation's largest unionized employers.

Whether those laws would remain in place in a privatized Postal Service is unknown.

The service has been losing money for years but it recently reported $144 million in net income for the final three months of 2024.

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