Late last week, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced its Board of Governors has tabbed David Steiner as the new Postmaster General and CEO.
Steiner will replace Louis DeJoy, whom resigned from the position in March, as well as current Acting Postmaster General Doug Tulino, whom USPS said will resume his role as Deputy Postmaster General and Chief Human Resources Officer. USPS added that Steiner is expected to come on board in July, pending the outcome of necessary background and ethics checks.
Steiner served as President and CEO of Waste Management for 12 years, over which period he solidified the company’s role as the leading provider of waste management and recycling systems in North America, while also leading efforts that created new business lines in environmental services, a new pricing model, widely adopted in the industry, and a more efficient operating approach. Other roles he held at Waste Management included Chief Financial Officer; Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary; and Vice President and Deputy General Counsel and prior to joining Waste Management, Steiner was a Partner at the law firm Phelps Dunbar.
And he also is a board member for Memphis-based FedEx, but will leave that role before joining USPS.
“It is an incredible honor to be asked to lead the world’s greatest postal organization, with a history that stretches back before the founding of the United States,” said Steiner. “I deeply admire the public service and business mission of this amazing institution, and I believe strongly in maintaining its role as an independent establishment of the executive branch. I look forward to engaging with its employees, who provide such an important service to all our communities. As the entity with the largest union membership in the United States, I look forward to engaging with the unions and management associations to ensure that together we create a world-class employment experience. I also look forward to working with industry associations, customers, and policymakers, as we chart a positive path forward. I am excited by the challenges ahead and by the many opportunities to shape a vibrant, durable and increasingly competitive future for the Postal Service. And, finally, but most importantly, I want to thank Doug for his excellent stewardship of the organization that he has dedicated his professional life to serve.”
This news comes at a time when the USPS has continued to be largely hampered by financial issues. In its fiscal second quarter earnings announcement last week, it reported a $3.3 billion net loss compared to a $1.5 billion net loss, for the same quarter, a year earlier, with operating revenue, at $19.7 billion, essentially flat on an annual basis. Shipping and Packages revenue increased $52 million, or 0.7%, on a volume decline of 118 million pieces, or 6.9% annually.
In recent months, the USPS has made headlines on various fronts, including reports noting that the White House intended to make major changes to the organization, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that members of the USPS governing board would be fired and also put the USPS under the direct control of the United States Department of Commerce. And a Washington Post report said that the board has retained outside counsel and gave “instructions to the White House if the president removed members of the board or attempt to alter the agency’s independent status.”
But this development is far from a done deal, with reports citing the White House as saying that it has no plans to issue an executive order.
And various reports published in March highlighted a letter sent to Congress by former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy indicating that the USPS is eyeing cutting 10,000 employees through a voluntary retirement program, which the USPS announced in January, in the coming weeks, coupled with the USPS saying it will work with the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The USPS also said in March it is taking steps to implement refinements to service standards, including new online tools and a fact sheet to help customers prepare for the changes, which it said will affect First-Class Mail, Periodicals, Marketing Mail, Package Services (including Bound Printed Matter, Media Mail, and Library Mail), USPS Ground Advantage, Priority Mail, and Priority Mail Express.
USPS said that these measures are estimated to save the Postal Service a minimum of $36 billion over the next decade through reductions in transportation, mail and package processing and real estate costs. And it added that the service standards refinement will occur in two phases to ensure effective operational implementation: the first phase was scheduled to start April 1, with the second phase slated to start July 1.
Steiner’s appointment to Postmaster General has come with praise from supporters based on his historical leadership abilities and concern from detractors over possible conflicts of interest and the USPS’s future, according to Matt Bohn, Senior Consultant, Professional Services, for San Diego-based Shipware, with Bohn adding that as a current member of FedEx’s board, some industry leaders and politicians fear that his appointment is the first step toward privatizing the USPS, whereas Steiner has stated that he is dedicated to keeping the USPS public.
“Steiner’s appointment was reportedly influenced by the current administration and its current directive to cut costs,” said Bohn. “The USPS lost $9.5 billion in 2024, and Steiner’s prior experience as CEO of Waste Management featured increased automation and workforce restructuring. Critics worry that he will apply similar methods to the USPS, leading to fewer jobs and degradation of service levels. It’s likely that if privatization is the goal, it will be done in pieces by shifting services to contractors or partners rather than privatizing the entity. Labor will likely be restructured similarly via retirement, attrition, or job cuts with necessary positions moving to contractors as part of a privatization shift.
Steiner inherited DeJoy’s Delivering for America plan designed to transform the USPS, which was intended to achieve financial stability and improve service and operational efficiency. It’s likely that the focus of Delivering for America will be rebranded or updated to emphasize and expedite cost-cutting with privatization and workforce reduction likely key components of the strategy.”
The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) did not pull any punches in expressing its views over Steiner’s appointment, calling his position on the FedEx board a clear conflict of interest, adding that Steiner comes from one of the Postal Service’s top competitors.
“His selection isn’t just a conflict of interest—it’s an aggressive step toward handing America’s mail system over to corporate interests,” said NALC. “Private shippers have been waiting to get USPS out of parcel delivery for years. Steiner’s selection is an open invitation to do just that.”
NALC also said Steiner was anti-union while leading Waste Management, having taken a stand against unions, in the form of union-busting, slashing jobs, and replacing workers with machines.
