December 9, 2015

Normal governance of USPS consists of nine Presidentially-appointed independent Governors plus the Postmaster General (PMG) and Deputy Postmaster General (DPMG) who are appointed by the Governors. Collectively, the 11 leaders are called the Board of Governors (BoG). As Governors’ terms end, they or replacements need to be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. That hasn’t been happening.

Now USPS is down to only one Governor, Jim Bilbray, and PMG Megan Brennan and DPMG Ron Stroman. The USPS web page on the BoG currently looks pretty lonely. The USPS described the greatest risk in its 2015 10-K:

“If we have only one Governor beginning in December 2015, there is a significantly greater risk of having no Governors at some future date. Although the inability of the Board to constitute a quorum does not inhibit or affect the authority of the Governors in office from exercising those powers vested solely in the Governors, it is not apparent how those powers could be exercised if there were no Governors. The critical responsibilities reserved to the Governors are setting our prices, approving new products and appointing (and, if necessary, removing) our Postmaster General and Deputy Postmaster General. In the event that no Governors are in place, these critical duties may not be able to be executed, potentially leaving us without the ability to adjust our prices as needed, introduce new products or appoint or replace our two most senior executive officers.”

The Postal Service has assured us that it can and will continue to operate and deliver the mail for at least the next year left for Mr. Bilbray. Much as it does with debt ceiling increases and highway trust funding, Congress might wait as long as this time next year to act, because that is when having no Governors would grind the USPS to a halt.

Senator Carper rightfully has urged his colleagues to act now to restore USPS to the level of leadership current law envisions. His statement included:

“Congressional inaction represents a failure to meet part of the Senate’s most basic responsibilities: to provide advice and consent on nominations in a thorough and timely manner and to provide agencies with the leadership they need to be successful. We can easily right this wrong. I urge my Senate colleagues to come together and act on the nominees for the Postal Board of Governors and on postal reform legislation as soon as possible.”