U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is planning to step down from his position, after sending a letter to the U.S. Postal Service's (USPS) board of governors where he instructed them to begin a search for his successor. 

DeJoy was appointed to the position at the tail end of President Donald Trump's first term in 2020. In his letter, he did not specify why he's leaving the USPS, or when exactly he intends on stepping down, stating only that he will be "as helpful as possible in facilitating a transition that is the least impactful to the Postal Service and the American people." 

Over his tenure, DeJoy pushed for sweeping cuts to the USPS, as part of a 10-year austerity plan to reduce costs by billions each year, by raising prices on mail, scaling back post office hours, and slowing first-class mail delivery speeds. In the lead-up to the 2020 election, he faced criticism for a plan to dismantle high-speed mail sorting machines and remove mail boxes in high-traffic areas across the country, all while states were preparing for a flood of mailed ballots.  

In 2022, an investigation from the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that the cost-cutting measures put in place by DeJoy had significantly impacted the quality and timeliness of mail delivery. A separate OIG probe in 2024 concluded that an initiative from DeJoy to consolidate mail delivery operations led to slower service for rural areas, and added more than $7 million in transportation costs in affected regions. In December 2024, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle lobbed criticism at DeJoy after he unveiled a plan to lower USPS targets for on-time mail delivery in 2025, with House Democrat Jamie Raskin accusing him of making Americans "pay higher prices for worse service." 

DeJoy has frequently defended his austerity measures, stressing how the USPS incurred nearly $90 billion losses over the last two decades, thanks to what he described as a "broken" business model. In his letter announcing his plans to step down, he highlighted how the USPS has cut transportation and mail processing costs by billions while he's been in charge.