US Postal Service chief urges employees to ignore Trump takeover rumors

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Postal Service employees should ignore rumors and reports that President Donald Trump could unilaterally seize control of the agency, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in a video seen by Reuters on Thursday.

DeJoy told the Postal Service's 640,000 employees that the agency was created by a federal law.

"Laws can be changed - the president and the members of Congress and designated officials work together to decide whether any change is required in the structure of our organization within the federal government," DeJoy said.

"I'm asking you to stay focused on the job at hand. Don't get distracted by news articles or speculation or rumors."

On Friday, Trump said he was considering merging the Postal Service with the U.S. Commerce Department, a move Democrats said would violate federal law.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News this week the Postal Service could help shrink costs at the Commerce Department by providing workers to conduct the U.S. census, which takes place every 10 years and costs around $40 billion, and handle tasks performed by 20,000 Social Security employees.

The Postal Service said this week it is adopting new service standards that will save the money-losing agency at least $36 billion over 10 years.

The move will "rid us of costly and archaic service requirements that have plagued us for almost 20 years and that no longer reflect the operational, financial or business realities or the reasonable expectations of most of our customers," DeJoy said in the video.

The Postal Service has lost more than $100 billion since 2007, including $9.5 billion in the 12 months ending September 30. Earlier this month, however, it reported a fourth-quarter profit of $144 million.

In 1970 the Postal Service was made an independent agency under the executive branch, free of direct political control. It is run by an 11-member board of governors, of whom nine are nominated by the president, while an independent regulator oversees postage rates.

As electronic communications have proliferated, the agency has been hurt by an 80% decline in first-class mail volume since 1997. Volumes are now at the lowest level since 1968.

DeJoy announced last week he plans to leave after about five years on the job. He told employees the time was right "because we have initiated most of the crucial elements" of a 10-year restructuring plan and we "now understand our path to profitability."

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Nia Williams)