President Trump is apparently planning big changes to the heavily loss-making US Postal Service, according to media reports, including firing the governing board and placing the independent agency under the control of the Commerce Department.
A report by The Washington Post revealed that Trump will issue an executive order “within days” putting the Commerce Department in charge of the USPS – a move that some observers are seeing as a first step toward privatisation, which could result in downsizing and restructuring.
In December 2024, before taking office, Trump expressed interested in privatising the USPS noting that it “was not the worst idea” and was something that his team “was looking at.” Trump first pushed for privatization during his first term in office.
The USPS currently employs more than 533,000 people and operates as a quasi-governmental agency. It is responsible for delivering mail and packages throughout the country, but it is not fully controlled by the government.
The executive order
