US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is set to implement a new strategic plan that includes higher postage rates and the elimination of first class mail, two sources familiar with the change told NBC News on Friday.
The plan to eliminate first-class mail, which includes letters, magazines, catalogs, among others, would make mail that normally arrives in two days and make delivery to consumers and businesses more expensive.
The Washington Post reported this story for the first time.
The newspaper reported that all first-class mail would be grouped in the same window for three to five days as non-local mail. This is because the postal service of DeJoy, a major donor to former President Donald Trump, has seen serious delays in delivering mail in recent months.
“Now is not the time to aggressively raise prices, when so many companies are struggling and holding on,” 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 deadly spiral in the postal system”
DeJoy’s plan is subject to change before it is formally presented, a source warned.
The postal service recorded annual losses for more than a decade. The agency announced a net financial loss of $ 9.2 billion last year.
The House Oversight Committee is due to hold a hearing on February 24 with DeJoy and other USPS stakeholders to “examine legislative proposals to place the Postal Service on a more sustainable financial basis going forward,” the committee said in a statement.
Congressional Democrats and postal union leaders are asking President Joe Biden to reshape the Postal Service leadership by filling four vacant seats on the Board of Governors. The board has the authority to replace the Postmaster General.
“Whoever the Postmaster General is, we need a strong Board of Governors of the Post in terms of policy and direction, and we believe that this is at this president’s fingertips now to be done quickly,” said Mark Diamondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union.
The White House said in a statement on Monday that Biden is focused on filling the board’s vacancies with nominees who “reflect his commitment to United States Postal workers – who fulfill the vital obligation of universal postal service”.
