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'We Can't Allow This to Happen': Musk Touts Postal Service, Amtrak Privatization
"This is their end goal: the privatization of as much of the U.S. government as possible, enriching the rich and leaving everyone else worse off," warned one progressive.
Mar 06, 2025
Elon Musk sparked calls Thursday to fight what one union called an "illegal power grab" after the senior adviser to President Donald Trump and de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency said that the United States Postal Service and Amtrak, the national passenger rail service, should be privatized.
"I think logically we should privatize anything that can reasonably be privatized," Musk—who is advising Trump on how to eviscerate federal agencies—said while appearing remotely at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference. "I think we should privatize the post office and Amtrak for example... We should privatize everything we possibly can."
"Basically, something's got to have some chance of going bankrupt, or there's not a good feedback loop for improvement," he opined.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employs more than 600,000 people. Amtrak has more than 21,000 workers.
"Big banks are already drawing up plans for a fire sale of the most profitable parts of our postal network."
Musk called the state of Amtrak "kind of embarrassing" and contrasted the U.S. rail system with the networks of countries including China, where the central government has financed the construction of nearly 30,000 miles (48,200 km) of high-speed lines. The United States has less than 300 miles of high-speed rail.
"Amtrak is a sad situation," Musk asserted. "It's like, if you're coming from another country, please don't use our national rail. It can leave you with a very bad impression of America."
Responding to Musk's remarks, Progressive Mass political director Jonathan Cohn said on social media, "This is their end goal: the privatization of as much of the U.S. government as possible, enriching the rich and leaving everyone else worse off."
Like Musk, Trump has also expressed support for privatizing the USPS, a move recommended by his Office of Management and Budget during his first term. The president also sought to slash Amtrak's funding during his first administration.
Last month, reporting that Trump is seeking to place the USPS under the control of the Commerce Department—which is led by billionaire cryptocurrency banker Howard Lutnick—sparked outrage and allegations of illegality.
"White House sources recently briefed the media that they were planning an illegal power grab of our public Postal Service," the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) said in an email this week responding to ongoing attacks on the USPS. "Such a power grab could allow them to put into action our greatest fear. Stripping our services and selling off our USPS."
"Big banks are already drawing up plans for a fire sale of the most profitable parts of our postal network, raising shipping costs for the public, and leaving taxpayers on the hook to fund the rest," APWU added. "We can't allow this to happen!"
Last month, longtime Postmaster General Louis DeJoy signaled he would step down by asking the United States Postal Service Board of Governors to begin selecting his successor. DeJoy's tenure has been marred by allegations of criminal election obstruction, conflicts of interest, and other corruption. His Delivering for America, a 10-year austerity plan, has been condemned by some critics as a roadmap to privatization.
It's not just the USPS and Amtrak. Key members of the Trump administration and their oligarch allies are pursuing policies and actions opponents argue are ultimately aimed at privatizing a sweeping range of federal agencies and services, from
public education to veterans' healthcare to mortgage lending, Social Security, Medicare, and more.
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'Hell No!' Postal Workers Protest Illegal Trump Takeover Scheme
"The 295,000 active and retired members of the National Association of Letter Carriers have a message to deliver to the White House: Hands off the Postal Service."
Feb 24, 2025
Postal workers and labor movement allies rallied in Washington, D.C. on Monday to protest U.S. President Donald Trump's reported plan to seize control of the independent and beloved Postal Service, a move that could pave the way for full privatization of the country's mail operations.
Monday's rally was organized by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), which said last week that Trump's proposal to bring the Postal Service under the purview of the Commerce Department is "unconstitutional and illegal."
"The 295,000 active and retired members of the National Association of Letter Carriers have a message to deliver to the White House: Hands off the Postal Service," the organization said in a statement after The Washington Postrevealed details of the executive order Trump is reportedly preparing to sign.
At Monday's rally, attendees—including letter carriers and union leaders—chanted "Hell no!" and waved signs that read "Fight Like Hell" to display their readiness to oppose any Trump administration takeover of the USPS, which is extremely popular with the American public.
"I want all of my postal worker brothers and sisters to know, this has nothing to do with your performance," Fredrick Redmond, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, said at the protest. "This has nothing to do with you as workers. You provide the highest level of service to the American people."
"This is about an unmitigated consolidation of power by this administration, power to put more money and more resources in the hands of the billionaires as opposed to spreading the wealth amongst the people who create the wealth every day," Redmond added.
We are standing with @NALC_National today to say #HellNo to dismantling our postal service! We are going to #FightLikeHell to protect our workers and communities! #solidarity pic.twitter.com/Ljr8npqYWL
— Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Union (@IUBAC) February 24, 2025
Monday's rally followed protests over the weekend in Portland, Oregon, where postal workers voiced concerns about the future of the USPS under Trump's leadership.
"People in rural areas wouldn't be able to get their medications that they depend on, they might not get mail at all, if it's privatized," Jae Burlingame, a longtime mail carrier, told a local media outlet on Sunday.
According toThe Washington Post, Trump is weighing an executive order that would terminate every member of the Postal Service Board of Governors and absorb the USPS into the Commerce Department, which is led by Trump-appointed billionaire Howard Lutnick.
Trump said Friday that Lutnick was "going to look at" potential USPS changes and touted the billionaire's "great business instinct."
"Your reported plans for the Postal Service would put at risk the timely, affordable delivery of life-saving medications, mail-in ballots, important financial documents, and letters from loved ones."
The Postal Service is currently self-funded, relying on the sale of postal services and products such as stamps rather than tax revenue.
CNNnoted Friday that "other countries have privatized their postal services in the past. But a plan to privatize the 250-year old service that predates the formation of the United States could dramatically change the way Americans receive deliveries, and even who would be able to get service."
"Current law requires the USPS to deliver to all addresses, even rural ones that are too costly for a private business to serve profitably," the outlet added. "Even many online purchases handled by private companies such as United Parcel Service depend upon the Postal Service to handle the 'last mile' of delivery to homes."
Christy Hoffman, president of the UNI Global Union, said last week that "we have seen the perils of privatizing postal services in Europe, which have led to reduced services, increased prices, job losses, and cut off rural communities where it is unprofitable to deliver mail."
"Instead of privatizing USPS," Hoffman added, "Trump should be supporting the Postal Service to seize opportunities in e-commerce, expand services, particularly to marginalized and remote communities, and safeguard a precious, public-owned, communication network that is ultimately irreplaceable."
In a letter to the U.S. president over the weekend, a group of Democratic lawmakers led by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.)—who attended Monday's rally—warned that the "unprecedented and reckless plan to dismantle the Postal Service as an independent agency would directly undermine the affordability and reliability of the U.S. postal system."
"Congress prescribed a clear and critical mandate for the Postal Service: to deliver efficient, reliable, and universal service to all Americans," the lawmakers wrote. "Your reported plans for the Postal Service would put at risk the timely, affordable delivery of life-saving medications, mail-in ballots, important financial documents, and letters from loved ones, especially in rural or less-profitable areas that the private sector refuses to service."
"We urge you to immediately withdraw all plans to dismantle one of our nation's most cherished public institutions and uphold the Postal Service's independent status as required by law," they added.
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As DeJoy Quits, Critics Fear GOP-Led Postal Board Will 'Find Someone Worse'
"The fact that Louis DeJoy still has a job is a failure of the Biden administration," said former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner.
Feb 18, 2025
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is asking the United States Postal Service Board of Governors to begin selecting his successor, signaling the approaching end of his controversial tenure and stoking fears that, influenced by President Donald Trump—who says he's considering privatizing the federal agency—the Republican-dominated board will choose an even more contentious replacement.
"While there remains much critical work to be done to ensure that the Postal Service can be financially viable as we continue to serve the nation in our essential public service mission, I have decided it is time to start the process of identifying my successor and of preparing the Postal Service for this change," DeJoy said in a statement Tuesday.
"After four-and-a-half years leading one of America's greatest public institutions through dramatic change during unusual times, it is time for me to start thinking about the next phase of my life, while also ensuring that the Postal Service is fully prepared for the future," he added.
In response, U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Board of Governors Chair Amber McReynolds said that DeJoy "has steadfastly served the nation and the Postal Service over the past five years" and hailed "his enduring leadership and his tireless efforts to modernize the Postal Service and reverse decades of neglect."
However, DeJoy's tenure has been marred by allegations of criminal election obstruction, conflicts of interest, and other corruption. Critics also decried Delivering for America, a 10-year austerity plan that opponents said put the USPS on a fast track toward slower service, job cuts, and, ultimately, privatization. The plan also contains the currently delayed consolidation of USPS facilities, a policy opposed by 200,000-member American Postal Workers Union (APWU).
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has notified the USPS Board of Governors that it's time for them to identify his successor. It remains to be seen if they find someone worse or privatize the USPS. I said it countless times in the hellscape, and I'll repeat it again here: DeJoy deserves deJail.
— The Shallow State ( @ourshallowstate.bsky.social) February 18, 2025 at 7:54 AM
DeJoy—who had no previous USPS experience and came directly to the agency from the board of a privately owned competitor—was a major donor to Trump and the Republican National Committee before being installed as postmaster general in May 2020 by Trump-appointed members of the USPS Board of Governors.
While DeJoy detractors hoped that former President Joe Biden would fire the embattled postmaster general after winning the White House in 2020, he enjoyed a surprising second act during Biden's tenure. He embraced fleet electrification, although he was later accused of "dragging his feet" on the EV rollout and for his efforts to cut tens of thousands of jobs, consolidate operations, and hike customer prices. For example, the price of a first-class postage stamp was 55 cents when DeJoy entered office. Now it's 73 cents.
Trump's return has also brought back the specter of postal privatization. The Republican president has repeatedly said that his administration is considering privatization. During Trump's first term, his Office of Management and Budget recommended that the USPS—a constitutionally sanctioned agency with more than 600,000 employees—be privatized.
Pro-privatization GOP lawmakers have called on Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency( DOGE) to find ways to stem USPS financial shortcomings, which approached $10 billion last fiscal year, largely due to mandated pension contributions it is forced to pay each year. But the USPS also raked in $79.5 billion in revenue last year, and pro-privatizers are keen for a piece of that action.
"DOGE is a question of billionaire oligarchs trying to figure out how to get more money into their private profits. So all of this stuff about efficiency is really a cover for that, and that also carries over to those who want to privatize the Post Office," APWU president Mark Dimondstein told Mother Jones' Alex Nguyen in an interview published in the magazine's March-April edition.
"The Post Office takes in about $80 billion a year in revenue," Dimondstein added. "Those on the private side of the industry want their hands on that money because when it's in the public domain, they can't use it to generate private profits."
Some observers questioned the timing of DeJoy's planned departure, while others fear he "will be replaced by someone somehow undoubtedly even worse," as one social media commentator put it.
DeJoy's successor will be chosen by a USPS Board of Governors made up of three Republicans, two Democrats, and one independent member.
Brian Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers—which is locked in a contract battle with USPS management—said Tuesday that "in its search for the next USPS leader, NALC urges the Board of Governors to seek out an individual with the necessary experience and expertise to lead the agency at this critical time."
"We need someone who values the workforce and is committed to preserving and improving universal service," the union added. "The Postal Service is older than our country and is mandated in the Constitution. The next postmaster general must guarantee that letter carriers can continue safely performing their constitutionally mandated service in every community nationwide."
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