Trump reportedly wants to take over US Postal Service

Americans 'consistently rank' the Postal Service 'among their most-beloved government agencies, second only to the National Park Service'

(Image credit: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

President Donald Trump is preparing an executive order aimed at taking control of the U.S. Postal Service and folding the independent mail agency into the Commerce Department, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal said Thursday. Doing so without approval from Congress "would probably violate federal law," the Post said.

Who said what

Trump's takeover would start with the firing of Postal Service's Senate-confirmed governing board, the Post said, then placing "the 250-year-old mail provider and trillions of dollars of e-commerce transactions" under the direct control of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has urged Trump to privatize the quasigovernmental agency. Privatizing the USPS was something Trump "frequently pushed for during his first term," the Journal said, though his attempts "failed to gain support in Congress."

Trump has already claimed broad powers over government institutions, unilaterally decommissioning the U.S. Agency for International Development, putting himself in charge of the Kennedy Center and firing the leadership of several independent agencies. An executive order he signed Tuesday instructed independent regulatory agencies to align their policies more closely with the White House.

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The Postal Service "by law is generally exempt from executive orders," the Post said. Americans also "consistently rank" it "among their most-beloved government agencies, second only to the National Park Service." The USPS is "wildly popular with the American people, and its service is essential and irreplaceable," said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). "Nobody voted for this. It is brazenly illegal, unconstitutional and corrupt."

What next?

A White House spokesperson late Thursday denied that Trump was planning such an executive order. Nevertheless, the USPS governing board is "planning to fight Trump's order," the Post said. In an emergency meeting Thursday, the board "retained outside counsel and gave instructions to sue the White House" if Trump were to remove board members or "attempt to alter the agency's independent status."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.