Washington DC - President Donald Trump is reportedly preparing to dissolve the leadership team at the US Postal Service (USPS) and make a move towards privatization.

Sources told The Washington Post that Trump will sign an executive order within days firing the USPS' board of governors and placing it under the purview of the Department of Commerce, led by billionaire Secretary Howard Lutnick.

The board is expected to try to push back against Trump. USPS' leadership held an emergency meeting this week in which they made plans to sue the White House if the Trump administration moves forward with its plans.

Trump has long talked about privatizing the USPS, especially after he accused the service of facilitating voter fraud during the 2020 election – a claim that has not been backed up with evidence.

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"There is talk about the Postal Service being taken private," Trump said in a speech he gave in December last year. "Not the worst idea I've ever heard."

No specific announcements have been made by the Trump administration about privatizing the USPS, but concerns abound after the service ran a deficit again last year, losing approximately $9.5 billion.

US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy resigned on Monday, potentially opening the door for a new candidate to be put forward by Trump who will be more willing to make radical changes, including privatization.

In his resignation letter, DeJoy pointed at bureaucracy and a broken business model as reasons for USPS' failure in recent years, and said he hopes he's put the service in a better position going forward. He also said he hopes a change of guard takes place at the organization, bringing in new people with fresh ideas.

"As I look around the organization, I see many long-term retirement eligible employees sticking around based upon their pride in, and commitment to, our Delivering for America plan," DeJoy said in his resignation letter.

"It is time for us together to think about and plan for the inevitable changing of the guard in many areas of our organization, to ensure that the new culture we have developed survives our tenure, including mine, and continues to thrive."