Trump donor will be the next head of the U.S. Postal Service
A businessman who is a major donor to President Trump and the Republican Party will be the next head of the U.S. Postal Service, the agency's board of governors announced Wednesday. Louis DeJoy will take over a service that the president has criticized constantly, while it is struggling for financial survival during the coronavirus pandemic.
DeJoy is set to become the next postmaster general on June 15. He will replace Megan Brennan, who became the first female postmaster general in 2015 under former President Barack Obama.
DeJoy is the former CEO of New Breed Logistics, a North Carolina company that worked with Postal Service mail processing facilities and won awards from the Postal Service for being a top supplier. He sold the company in 2014 and retired as its CEO a year later.
"Postal workers are the heart and soul of this institution, and I will be honored to work alongside them and their unions," DeJoy said in a statement.
DeJoy has donated more than $1.2 million to the Trump Victory Fund, as well as millions of dollars to the Republican National Committee and various GOP candidates over the past three decades, according to Federal Elections Commission records. He is also overseeing fundraising for the Republican National Convention, which is supposed to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, in August.
DeJoy's wife, Aldona Wos, was nominated by Mr. Trump to be ambassador to Canada, and served as ambassador to Estonia under former President George W. Bush.
Mr. Trump has often attacked the Postal Service during his presidency, demanding that it raise rates for companies such as Amazon — another frequent Trump target. The president said in the Oval Office last month that the "Postal Service is a joke" and that it should quadruple its shipping prices.
But Mr. Trump said on Twitter last month, "I will never let our Post Office fail. It has been mismanaged for years, especially since the advent of the internet and modern-day technology. The people that work there are great, and we're going to keep them happy, healthy, and well!"
The Postal Service has faced financial difficulties for years as the volume of mail has plummeted. The current postmaster general warned in April that USPS could run out of money by October due to a "devastating" drop in business caused by the coronavirus.
Congress approved a $10 billion loan for the Postal Service last month, which must be approved by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration sees tough stipulations on the loan as a way to take more control of the Postal Service and change the way it does business.