He’s finally out. After five years of being the most scrutinized man in Washington, Louis DeJoy has left the building. On March 24, 2025, the 75th Postmaster General officially called it quits, ending a tenure that felt more like a decade-long boxing match than a government gig.
Honestly, it wasn't a total shocker. DeJoy had been signaling for months that he was "thinking about the next phase" of his life. But when the hammer finally dropped, it hit hard. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) confirmed that Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino would keep the seat warm until a permanent successor could be found. That successor turned out to be David Steiner, a former FedEx board member who took the reins in July 2025.
So, why does everyone still care about Louis DeJoy stepping down? Because the guy didn't just run the post office; he tried to rewire its entire DNA.
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The "Delivering for America" Legacy
When DeJoy took over in the summer of 2020, he didn't exactly get a "Welcome to the Team" party. He was a Republican donor with a logistics background, and he was the first postmaster in nearly twenty years who hadn't climbed the ranks within the agency. He walked into a mess. The USPS was bleeding billions, and first-class mail was essentially in a death spiral.
His answer was the "Delivering for America" plan.
It was a ten-year roadmap designed to save the agency from financial ruin. But "saving" meant some pretty painful medicine. We’re talking about:
- Consolidating mail processing centers to "optimize" the network.
- Slowing down delivery standards for First-Class Mail (switching from 3 days to 5 days for long-distance stuff).
- Aggressive price hikes. Seriously, stamp prices jumped from 50 cents to 73 cents under his watch.
Critics called it a "slow-motion demolition." DeJoy called it "reality." He often argued that the USPS was operating under a broken business model that was projected to lose $160 billion over a decade if nothing changed. By the time he left, he claimed he’d cut those projected losses in half.
The DOGE Factor and the Sudden Exit
The timing of Louis DeJoy stepping down was particularly spicy. It happened right as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) began sniffing around the federal budget.
Just days before he resigned, DeJoy signed an agreement to work with DOGE. The goal? Finding "efficiencies." For many postal workers, "efficiency" is just a fancy word for "layoffs." In fact, the USPS moved to cut roughly 10,000 jobs through early retirement offers right around the same time.
There’s a lot of chatter about whether he was "forced out" by the administration. Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), didn't mince words. He claimed DeJoy was pushed by an administration looking to "break up and sell off" the public postal service. Whether that’s true or just union rhetoric, the optics of DeJoy shaking hands with the DOGE team and then walking out the door a week later were... interesting, to say the least.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Postmaster General
There is a massive misconception that the President of the United States can just fire the Postmaster General.
They can't.
Under the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, the USPS is an independent establishment. Only the Board of Governors can hire or fire the PMG. This is why DeJoy survived the transition from the Trump administration to the Biden administration, despite immense political pressure to remove him. He had the support of the board, and he wasn't going anywhere until he—or they—decided it was time.
The Financial Reality Check
Despite the cuts and the price hikes, the USPS still reported a net loss of over $9 billion for fiscal year 2025. It’s a bit of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.
- Volume is dropping: People just aren't sending letters like they used to.
- Costs are rising: Fuel, labor, and maintenance for a "ratty" fleet of trucks (DeJoy’s words, not mine) aren't getting cheaper.
- Inflation is a beast: It ate up a lot of the gains from the stamp price increases.
What Happens Now?
With David Steiner now at the helm, the USPS is in a weird transition phase. Steiner has publicly defended the core of DeJoy's modernization plan, but there’s a new focus on "first-mile" and "last-mile" growth. Basically, they want to stop just being the "junk mail people" and start competing more fiercely in the package delivery space against giants like UPS and Amazon.
If you’re a regular person just trying to get your birthday cards on time, what does this mean for you?
First off, don't expect stamp prices to drop. The board is still looking at twice-a-year increases to keep the lights on. Secondly, the push for electric vehicles is actually happening. After a lot of legal drama, the USPS is on track to have a massive fleet of electric delivery trucks by 2028.
Actionable Insights for 2026
If you rely on the mail for your business or personal life, here is how to navigate the post-DeJoy era:
- Budget for Price Hikes: Treat stamp increases like a seasonal weather event. They are going to happen every January and July. If you use a lot of mail, buy "Forever" stamps in bulk before the next scheduled hike.
- Monitor Local Hubs: If your local mail processing center is on the list for consolidation, expect "growing pains" in delivery times. You can check the USPS "Service Performance Dashboard" online to see how your specific region is doing.
- Diversify Shipping: For time-sensitive packages, the "Ground Advantage" service is actually becoming more reliable than the old First-Class system, but it’s always worth comparing rates with commercial carriers during the current restructuring.
- Watch the Board: The real power at the USPS lies with the Board of Governors. As new members are appointed and confirmed, that’s where the actual policy shifts will happen, not just in the Postmaster’s office.
The era of Louis DeJoy stepping down marks the end of a very specific, very aggressive chapter in postal history. Whether he was a "fighter" who saved the service or a "villain" who undermined it depends entirely on who you ask. Either way, the mail must go on.