Trump Plans to Dissolve USPS Board and Merge Agency with Treasury, Sparking Legal Battle

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Alex Jane
February 22, 2025
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8 minutes read

Courtesy: Forbes

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to dissolve the U.S. Postal Service’s governing board and integrate the agency into the Department of the Treasury, a move that legal experts say is likely unlawful and could spark a major court battle, according to The Washington Post.

“Trump is expected to issue an executive order as soon as this week to fire the members of the Postal Service’s governing board and place the agency under the control of the Commerce Department and Secretary Howard Lutnick, according to six people familiar with the plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals,” the report stated.

“The board is planning to fight Trump’s order, three of those people told The Washington Post.” In response, the USPS board convened an emergency meeting, where they “retained outside counsel and gave instructions to sue the White House if the president were to remove members of the board or attempt to alter the agency’s independent status,” according to the report.

Legal experts argue that placing the Postal Service under Commerce Department control would likely violate federal law. “Trump’s order to place the Commerce Department in charge of the Postal Service would probably violate federal law, according to postal experts,” the report noted.

president donald trump — (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Louis DeJoy, the current Postmaster General and a Trump appointee has announced plans to resign. DeJoy, a former logistics executive and major GOP donor has been a controversial figure during his tenure. The USPS, originally under direct federal control, was restructured in 1970 when Congress established it as an independent entity.

Since then, the president’s influence has been limited to appointing the board of governors, pending Senate confirmation. Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business USPS expert James O’Rourke warned that Trump’s move could undermine trust in the agency’s impartiality. “This is a somewhat regal approach that says the king knows better than his subjects and he will do his best for them.

But it also removes any sense that there’s oversight, impartiality, and fairness and that some states wouldn’t be treated better than other states or cities better than other cities,” he told The Washington Post. “The anxiety over the Postal Service is not only three-quarters of a million workers.

It’s that this is something that does not belong to the president or the White House. It belongs to the American people.” As the controversy unfolds, legal and political experts predict a protracted battle over the future of the Postal Service.