U.S. Postal Worker General Louis DeJoy plans to implement a new strategic plan that includes higher postal rates and the elimination of first-class mail, two sources familiar with the move told NBC News Friday.
The plan to eliminate premium mail, including letters, magazines, and catalogs, would delay mail that typically arrives within two days and make it more expensive to deliver for both consumers and businesses.
The Washington Post first reported this story.
The newspaper reported that all first-class mail would be thrown in the same three- to five-day window as non-local mail. This is because the postal service under DeJoy, a top donor to former President Donald Trump, has already seen serious delays in the delivery of mail in recent months.
“Now is not the time to aggressively raise prices when so many companies are struggling and hanging by a thread,” said Hamilton Davison, president of the American Catalog Mailers Association.
Davison added that higher prices will “force more mail out of the system and contribute to a death spiral of the postal system.”
DeJoy’s plan is subject to change before it is formally introduced, a source warned.
The postal service has suffered annual losses for over a decade. The agency announced a net financial loss of $ 9.2 billion last year.
The House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing with DeJoy and other USPS stakeholders on Feb. 24 to “examine legislative proposals to give the postal service a more sustainable financial base in the future,” the committee said in a statement.
Congressional Democrats and postal union leaders are urging President Joe Biden to overhaul the leadership of the postal service by holding four open seats on the board of directors. The board has the power to replace the postmaster general.
“Whoever the postmaster general is, we need a strong postmaster board of governors to set policy and direction, and we believe this is now within reach of this president to be done quickly,” said Mark Diamondstein, president of the United States Postman Union.
The White House said in a statement Monday that Biden is focusing on filling the board’s vacancies with nominees that “reflect his commitment to the employees of the US Postal Service – who fulfill the post office’s essential universal service obligation.”
