It will take some time for an already overloaded Senate to get to approving Biden’s nominees. They would have the voting power to fire Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump appointee and longtime supporter of the Republican Party, and could nix any of DeJoy’s proposed changes to the structure of the Postal Service.īut DeJoy doesn’t plan on going anywhere: He warned Congress earlier this month that the American public had better “get used to me.”
If approved by the Senate, this would make Democrats and Democratic appointees the majority on the nine-member board. President Joe Biden recently announced three nominees to fill vacant seats on the Postal Service’s board of governors. DeJoy’s plan should not be implemented until Congress and the American people have the opportunity to fully review it and provide substantive feedback,” said Maloney. Members of Congress have issued warnings about making such changes, but they do not have the authority to stop them.
Usps changes coming full#
The review is non-binding guidance, and governors can vote any way they’d like no matter what the findings are.Ī full review by the PRC will take at least 90 days, meaning a vote by the board of governors is unlikely to occur before early June.
Once a review has been completed by the Postal Regulatory Commission, the board of governors can implement those changes. The more controversial aspects of the plan-slowing mail delivery, closing and limiting the hours of post offices and mailboxes, shutting down sorting machines-don’t need Congressional approval. It is widely expected to pass this time around. A bill ending the law passed the House last year but did not make it through the then-Republican controlled Senate. The part of the plan that is least controversial-ending the prefunding of retiree healthcare plans-will need to be instituted by Congress. Still others require a review by the Postal Regulatory Commision, an independent agency that has regulatory oversight over the Postal Service, before they can be voted on by the Board of Governors. Some pieces will necessitate Congressional action while others can be implemented quickly through a vote by the USPS board of governors. “We received feedback from key customers and industry associations, our unions and management associations, and members of Congress,” he told Fortune.īut because of the USPS’s labyrinthian structure, different aspects of the plan require approval from separate governing bodies.
Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), the chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, added that she was “extremely concerned about the Postal Service’s unacceptable decision to make permanent slower mail delivery despite substantial public and Congressional opposition.” DeJoy, she claimed, failed to fully engage with Congress and other “postal stakeholders” while creating his plan.ĭavid Partenheimer, a spokesperson for the USPS, denied those claims. “Postmaster General DeJoy has put forth a draconian plan that guarantees the death spiral of the United States Postal Service,” said Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA) in a statement. “Customers and Congress are fed up with DeJoy’s service cuts and record delays.” DeJoy also said that under his plan, “a small percentage” of post offices would have reduced hours, and “a small percentage” of stations in cities would close permanently, though he did not specify exact numbers. The plan would slow mail delivery by limiting sorting and transportation methods. Over 80% of the agency’s losses can be attributed to payments to retiree and healthcare funds.īut other parts have Democratic lawmakers and union representatives worried.
Usps changes coming series#
That’s about all that the Postal Service’s numerous stakeholders-postal management, politicians, labor leaders, economists, business owners, logistics consultants, business consultants, political consultants, consultant consultants, vote-by-mail advocates, aunts on Facebook, really any American who receives and sends mail-who are currently hashing out the best way to save the agency, can agree on.Īfter a series of congressional hearings, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a large donor to former President Donald Trump, released his 10-year plan, entitled “ Delivering for America,” which he said would save the Postal Service. The plan is long and multipronged, and it includes aspects that labor leaders and postal advocates have long fought for and agree with-like ending a 2006 requirement that the agency pre fund healthcare pensions for all employees up to 75 years in the future. The critical agency, with an internal structure that would make Kafka blush and a propensity for hemorrhaging money, is in desperate need of reform.
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