The head of the beleaguered U.S. Postal Service, Louis DeJoy, resigned Monday after nearly five years in the position and following protests last weekend by postal workers concerned about the direction of the agency.
DeJoy had said last month he planned to step down but hadn’t set a date.
Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino will take on the role until the Postal Service Board of Governors names a permanent replacement.
“I believe strongly that the organization is well positioned and capable of carrying forward and fully implementing the many strategies and initiatives that comprise our transformation and modernization, and I have been working closely with the Deputy Postmaster General to prepare for this transition, DeJoy said in a statement.
He added that “much work remains that is necessary to sustain our positive trajectory.”
Earlier this month, DeJoy said he planned to cut 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the U.S. Postal Service budget and he’d do that working with Elon Musk ’s Department of Government Efficiency, according to a letter sent to members of Congress.
U.S. Postal workers, including mail carriers, gathered over the weekend to protest the cuts and the plan they say will dismantle the service.
DeJoy’s tenure was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, surges in mail-in election ballots and efforts to stem losses through cost and service cuts.
He took the helm of the postal service in the summer of 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first term. He was a Republican donor who owned a logistics business before taking office and was the first postmaster general in nearly two decades who was not a career postal employee.