President Trump will be tasked with appointing a new head of the Postal Regulatory Commission, according to an article in Federal News Network, which reported on Friday that PRC chairperson Michael Kubayanda was leaving the agency a year before his term was set to expire “completely on (his) own accord.” (We did not find an announcement on the PRC website.)
The PRC was a thorn in the side of former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy as he launched a 10-year plan called Delivering for America, including seeking to limit the USPS rate hikes to once a year instead of each January and July (and each October, as sellers know all too well).
In recent years, the PRC clashed with DeJoy, who was replaced by David Steiner in July 2025. DeJoy expressed little patience with the slow pace of change at the Postal Service and blamed the PRC for helping “destroy” it. SaveThePostOffice.com reported on a congressional hearing in 2023, quoting DeJoy in part:
“We’re an independent organization, and we are charged with the mission of saving the organization, not the Postal Regulatory Commission. The Postal Regulatory Commission sat over and watched the destruction of the organization over the last fifteen years and actively participated in the destruction of the organization over the last fifteen years. What we’re trying to do is save the organization. What goes on and why they do the things they do I am yet to figure out, and I’m a pretty smart guy.”
Fast forward to 2025, and the PRC was still defending itself, issuing a statement in March about DeJoy’s statements about the PRC’s role. But the PRC had its own critiques. As Federal News Network reported, “The regulator warned USPS in January that the next phase of its 10-year reform plan would slow down mail delivery for a “significant portion of the nation,” but wouldn’t save USPS enough money to justify the changes.”
Congress established the PRC in 1970 as an independent agency to exercise regulatory oversight over the Postal Service. The current Trump administration has eschewed oversight, most recently shutting down at least 15 government oversight websites, removing access to watchdog reports and required hotline and whistleblower links, according to NextGov.com.
That may give an indication of how the White House will handle the PRC leadership void as Kubayanda steps down. If there’s nobody to pump the brakes on the amount or frequency of rate hikes, it could spell bad news for online sellers who rely on postal services.