Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LABOR NEWS—Bipartisan pressure mounts as Trump administration works to privatize U.S. Postal Service, (Apr 1, 2025)

By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.

Lawmakers called for explanations and urged Congress to ensure the Postal Service remains an independent establishment, not subject to privatization.

U.S. Representatives Gerald E. Connolly and Kweisi Mfume, in a letter to Amber F. McReynolds, chair of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, recently expressed concern that the Trump administration, through the efforts of the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE), is attempting to actively undermine the stability and integrity of the Postal Service. The letter follows the sudden departure of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy following his signing of an agreement with DOGE to assess the Postal Service’s operational activities and drive down costs. Additionally, a newly introduced bipartisan resolution seeks to support the independence and critical public service mission of the Postal Service.

Recent actions; DeJoy resignation. The letter describes the administration’s concerning actions at the Postal Service, including reporting of recent tension between DeJoy and the administration over the work of DOGE and DeJoy’s refusal to give DOGE officials broad access to agency systems. The letter highlights that, on February 20, 2025, reporting indicated that the administration was preparing to fire the bipartisan Board of Governors and unlawfully merge the Postal Service into the Commerce Department, “potentially throwing the 250-year-old mail provider and trillions of dollars of e-commerce transactions into turmoil.” The Representatives stated in their letter that the administration’s efforts to restructure the Postal service could “[jeopardize] the timely delivery of life-saving medications, mail-in ballots, important financial documents, and personal letters, especially in rural or less-profitable areas that the private sector does not serve.” According to DeJoy’s final public statement, the Board of Governors are working to appoint a permanent successor.

American Postal Workers Union (APWU) President Mark Diamondstein said in a statement, “The law is clear: the Postal Service was created by Congress as an independent agency, designed to be free from shifting political winds and dedicated solely to serving the country. The law is also clear that the Board of Governors, and it alone, is empowered to hire and fire the Postmaster General. Any attempts by this [a]dministration to seize power from the Board of Governors is unlawful and only makes clear their goal of breaking up and selling off the Postal Service to private corporations.” Diamondstein pressed the Board of Governors to move as quickly as possible to hire the next permanent Postmaster General who is “committed to the public service mission of the USPS, who respects the rights of hardworking postal workers, and who will not break up and sell off our public Postal Service.”

Resolution; bipartisan support. U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) introduced a bipartisan resolution to support the independence and critical public service mission of the Postal Service. The Postal Service is a self-sustaining entity that is not funded by taxpayer dollars but relies on revenues derived from its products and services. The resolution underscores that Congress should ensure the Postal Service remains an independent establishment, not subject to privatization.

“This strong showing of bipartisan support from both chambers of Congress confirms what we have always known, that the Post Office is our national treasure, providing invaluable services to the public,” said Diamondstein in a statement urging APWU members, their families, and community allies to ask their senators to co-sponsor the resolution. “The essential services we provide as postal workers cannot be replicated in the private sector, and any attempt to privatize the Postal Service would only increase costs and reduce services, which would be harmful to the people and businesses across the country.”

More than 100 rural letter carriers gathered on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in solidarity with colleagues from the APWU and other industry stakeholders, calling for Congress to uphold its duty to protect the Postal Service as an independent agency. The rally marked the official launch of the National Association of Letter Carriers’ National Campaign to Protect the U.S. Postal Service from Privatization, which seeks to prevent the damage privatization would cause to rural communities and postal workers across the U.S.

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