A North Carolina businessman and major donor to President Trump and the Republican National Committee has been named postmaster general amid calls by the president for the service to overhaul its policy on package rates.
Louis DeJoy, who is currently overseeing fundraising for this year’s Republican National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., will assume the post, the Postal Service’s board of governors announced Wednesday, according to The Washington Post.
“Louis DeJoy understands the critical public service role of the United States Postal Service, and the urgent need to strengthen it for future generations,” Robert Duncan, chairman of the board of governors, said in a statement, according to the newspaper.
“Postal workers are the heart and soul of this institution, and I will be honored to work alongside them and their unions,” DeJoy, who is set to begin June 15, said in a statement.
Trump has frequently called for the Postal Service to increase package fees in exchange for a new line of credit it has said is necessary to stay afloat. He has accused the agency of giving preferential treatment to Amazon, whose founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, owns The Washington Post, a frequent target of the president for its coverage of his administration.
The Postal Service has pushed back against those allegations, saying it charges competitive rates that are necessary in a landscape that also includes UPS, FedEx and Amazon’s own delivery service, according to the Post. Trump has threatened to block a $10 billion loan to the Postal Service unless it substantially raises shipping prices.
The agency’s board of governors is now majority-Republican, with three GOP members to a single Democrat. Democratic Vice Chairman David Williams resigned last week after reportedly telling confidants he felt Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had interfered with the Postal Service’s apolitical mission, according to the Post.