Protests Break Out Across US Over Plans To Change Postal Service

Postal workers across the country rallied against the dismantling of the United States Postal Service on Sunday.

The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) planned rallies in more than 200 cities to warn that any effort to privatize or restructure the agency would be a threat to jobs and the service Americans rely on.

Newsweek has contacted the NALC, USPS and the White House for comment via email.

Why It Matters

It was reported in February that President Donald Trump was considering plans to transfer the USPS to the Commerce Department. Trump and his allies have also indicated they are willing to privatize the service.

The public mail system has long faced funding issues and has been a point of contention for many administrations. It employs more than 600,000 people, making it one of the largest employers in the country.

Earlier this month, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Congress that USPS plans to cut 10,000 jobs through a voluntary early retirement program over the next 30 days. DeJoy added the agency will work with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to tackle "big problems" at the agency, which has struggled financially in recent years.

Postal workers also rallied against the threats to USPS at nationwide demonstrations on Thursday.

What To Know

Hundreds of postal workers gathered to protest in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Nashville, Houston, Washington, D.C., and other cities on Sunday, according to reports and social-media posts.

In Chicago, workers wearing red shirts saying "Fight Like Hell" packed Federal Plaza to "send a clear message to Trump & Musk" on Sunday, according to a post on X, formerly Twitter, from the Chicago Federation of Labor.

The post added: "You're in for a FIGHT if you think you're gonna privatize the USPS! Hell no!!! Hands off our postal service!"

Representative Maxine Waters and Senators Dick Durbin and Tina Smith were among lawmakers who joined protests on Sunday in support of the postal workers.

Smith, a Democrat from Minnesota, said DOGE was engaging in a "hostile takeover" of USPS at a protest in front of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul attended by almost 200 people, MPR News reported.

Meanwhile, Representative Al Green of Texas told protesters in Houston that he would not support privatizing USPS and would challenge DeJoy's suggestions for cuts, according to the Houston Chronicle.

A NALC flyer advertising Sunday's protests said any effort to privatize or restructure USPS is a "direct threat" to 640,000 postal employees, the "universal service every American relies on" and millions of households and businesses, especially those in rural America.

The flyer notes that such proposals are "illegal and unconstitutional" because the Constitution "gives Congress, not the president, a key role in setting postal policy."

It adds: "Mandated by federal law, USPS has been an independent, self-sufficient agency for 55 years."

What People Are Saying

President Donald Trump said on February 21: "We want to have a post office that works well and doesn't lose massive amounts of money. We're thinking about doing that. And it'll be a form of a merger, but it'll remain the Postal Service, and I think it'll operate a lot better."

Elon Musk said at a conference earlier in March, according to Reuters: "I think logically we should privatize anything that can reasonably be privatized. I think we should privatize the Post Office and Amtrak for example … We should privatize everything we possibly can."

NALC National wrote on X on Sunday: "Make no mistake, this is an attack on letter carriers, on all 640,000 postal employees, on 8 million jobs attached to USPS. A $1.9 T attack on an industry central to our economy, on 51.5 million rural households & businesses, on over 300 million Americans who rely on USPS."

Willy Ferguson, a 48-year postal service veteran and president of NALC branch 283, told the Houston Chronicle: "The public doesn't want the postal service to be dismantled, and they certainly don't want it to be sold off in bits and pieces."

Senator Dick Durbin said in a video posted on X: "U.S. Postal Service was created in the Constitution, most people don't know that, but they do know that they count on the postal service every day, six days a week, to deliver mail and perform valuable functions binding America together. Now there are those in Washington, Elon Musk and others, who want to privatize this postal service. I am opposed to that. Let us keep an independent agency above politics, not changing with every president."

Representative Gwen Moore, a Democrat from Wisconsin, wrote on X: "I joined postal workers today to say HELL NO to Trump's plans to privatize USPS. The postal service is right there in the Constitution. It is meant to serve the American people in every zip code."

Senator Tina Smith, a Democrat from Minnesota, wrote on X: "Musk and Trump need to stay the hell away from USPS.

"Postal workers provide an essential constitutional service, ensuring that folks have their medicine, bills and paychecks on time. The sustained effort by DeJoy, Musk and Trump to dismantle the post office is an attempt to cut off a lifeline to people across Minnesota and America. I'm on the side of the postal workers."

What Happens Next

DeJoy told Congress that 10,000 jobs would be eliminated by mid-April. His letter did not provide details or a timeline about when DOGE would begin working with USPS.

An effort to merge the USPS into the Department of Commerce may not be possible without an act of Congress.

But any efforts to restructure the agency or slash jobs are likely to face further protests and court challenges.