Postal Service leaders on Friday selected David Steiner, a member of FedEx’s board, to be the country’s next postmaster general, a choice that critics fear could expedite the Trump administration’s push to privatize the independent agency.
Mr. Steiner, who also served as president and chief executive of Waste Management Inc., is set to take over the post office as it grapples with uncertainty over its future and loses billions of dollars annually. He is expected to start in July after clearing background and ethics checks, agency officials said on Friday.
“I deeply admire the public service and business mission of this amazing institution, and I believe strongly in maintaining its role as an independent establishment of the executive branch,” Mr. Steiner said in a statement. “I am excited by the challenges ahead and by the many opportunities to shape a vibrant, durable and increasingly competitive future for the Postal Service.”
Some Democratic lawmakers and union leaders expressed deep concern over Mr. Steiner’s appointment because of his connection to a direct competitor of the Postal Service. Although the postmaster general is selected by the agency’s board and not the White House, President Trump has said that he would consider a major reorganization of the agency in an attempt to reverse its financial fortunes. In February, Mr. Trump said his administration would look at a “form of a merger,” and that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick would help lead the initiative.
Many Democratic lawmakers and union leaders saw the effort as a way for the administration to take control of the agency and try to sell off or outsource major aspects of its services to private companies. Doing so would disproportionately affect rural areas, they said, where it is less profitable for private companies to deliver mail.
“The Trump administration has been relentless in its attempts to privatize America’s most trusted institution both outwardly and behind the scenes,” Representative Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said in a statement. “It is a blatant conflict of interest.”
Mark Dimondstein, the president of the American Postal Workers Union, said the board’s selection was troubling because it could lead to the privatization of the agency, which he thought could result in worse service in rural areas and higher prices for customers.
“It begs the question of whether this is a post office that is going to be run for the good of the people of the country,” Mr. Dimondstein said, “or whether it’s going to be a post office that serves private corporations like FedEx.”
Postal Service leaders said that Mr. Steiner was the right person to lead the agency because he carried out “tremendous change” and delivered strong financial results while leading Waste Management for 12 years. Mr. Steiner will leave the board of FedEx before joining the Postal Service, agency officials said.
“Our board looks forward to working with Dave as he takes on the core mandates of providing universal and excellent service for the American public and doing so in a financially sustainable manner,” Amber McReynolds, the chairwoman of the Postal Service’s board of governors, said in a statement.
Mr. Steiner’s appointment comes after Louis DeJoy, a former logistics executive and Republican donor, stepped down as postmaster general in late March. Mr. DeJoy, who served in the role for nearly five years, had been overseeing a 10-year plan to overhaul the agency and guide it out of a financial crisis.
But the agency has continued to lose money, which postal leaders have attributed to high inflation, increased labor costs and steep pension expenses.
In the second quarter of this fiscal year, the Postal Service lost $3.3 billion, the agency said, up from $1.5 billion for the same quarter last year. The agency is supposed to be self-sustaining, and generally does not receive taxpayer money for operating expenses, instead relying on revenue from its sales.
Union leaders have expressed optimism that the plan could still yield more positive results in the coming years, but they have also voiced concerns over the agency’s service decline. In the 2024 fiscal year, 81 percent of single-piece first-class letters and postcards were delivered on time. That was down from 88 percent the year before, and under the agency’s target of 92 percent, according to Postal Service data.
FedEx leaders praised Mr. Steiner’s selection and said the agency should be “held accountable to the same rules as private sector companies.”
“David is an outstanding executive who has served on the FedEx board of directors since 2009 and as the lead independent director since 2013,” Frederick W. Smith, the founder and executive chairman of FedEx, said in a statement. “While we will miss him on the FedEx board of directors, he is stepping into the postmaster general role at a critical time. The U.S.P.S. must be reformed to improve service.”
