U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s Thursday announcement that the independent United States Postal Service is partnering with the Department of Government Efficiency on a cost-cutting crusade that includes a planned reduction of 10,000 workers stoked fears that one of America’s most trusted and relied-upon federal agencies is on a path toward privatization.

In a
letter to congressional leaders, DeJoy said DOGE will help the USPS “in identifying and achieving further efficiencies.” The postal chief listed “mismanagement” of the agency’s retirement assets and workers’ compensation program, “unfunded mandates imposed on us by legislation,” and “burdensome regulatory requirements restricting normal business practice” as issues to be addressed.

“The letter suggests alarming actions for DOGE to pursue that would easily lead to the privatization and politicization of the Postal Service,” Democrats on the U.S. House Oversight Committee
said in response to the announcement. “This includes DeJoy’s call to gut or even terminate the Postal Regulatory Commission, the independent regulator of the Postal Service created by Congress and responsible for approving rate changes and ensuring appropriate service.”

Brian Renfroe, president of the nearly 300,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC),
said Thursday that while “policy changes are needed to improve the Postal Service’s financial viability… misguided ideas like privatization” are not the answer.

“Commonsense solutions are what the Postal Service needs, not privatization efforts that will threaten 640,000 postal employees’ jobs, 7.9 million jobs tied to our work, and the universal service every American relies on daily,” Renfroe added.

DeJoy—who last month
announced his intent to step down after more than four years in office—has led a dramatic restructuring of the USPS, a constitutionally sanctioned agency. His tenure has been marred by allegations of criminal election obstruction, conflicts of interest, and other corruption. Critics have also warned that DeJoy’s Delivering for America, a 10-year austerity plan, put the agency on a fast track toward slower service, job cuts, and, ultimately, privatization.

U.S. President Donald Trump has
acknowledged that his administration is revisiting plans to possibly privatize the Postal Service—a policy recommended by the Office of Management and Budget during his first term. Last month, The Washington Postreported that Trump planned to fire the entire Postal Board of Governors and bring the independent USPS under control of the Department of Commerce, a move experts argue would likely be illegal.

Elon Musk, the de facto head of DOGE,
said earlier this month that the USPS and Amtrak, the national passenger rail service, should be privatized.

DOGE’s short but staggering track record of
eviscerating federal agencies by dubiously firing tens of thousands of workers—a policy a federal judge found illegal on Thursday—is deeply concerning to many defenders of the Postal Service.

“The only thing worse for the Postal Service than DeJoy’s Delivering for America plan is turning the service over to Elon Musk and DOGE so they can undermine it, privatize it, and then profit off Americans’ loss,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, said Thursday.