Senator Decries ‘Shameful’ Colleagues for Leaving USPS Board With Only One Member

The U.S. Postal Service is down to just one member on its Senate-confirmed board of governors, and at least one member of the upper chamber is not happy about it.

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., a long-time USPS advocate and proponent of alleviating the cash-strapped agency through legislation, called it “shameful” the Senate has neglected its duties to provide the mailing agency with proper management. Carper made his comments at a hearing Thursday to confirm Jeffrey Rosen to the board, who joined five other nominees in being reported favorably out of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Those individuals have languished in Senate purgatory without receiving a full vote for more than one year.

The USPS board of governors consists of 11 members: the postmaster general, her deputy and nine Senate-confirmed members. Since December 2015, after two more positions expired, the agency has just one confirmed governor. The de facto Chairman James Bilbary is a former Democratic congressman from Nevada (federal statute prohibits more than five board members from belonging to the same party). The board is tasked with setting postal policy, allocating resources and making long-term planning decisions.

Last year, the board lost its ability to field a quorum when it dropped to just three confirmed members. It has been operating under a “temporary emergency committee,” which the board created to avoid being left completely powerless when it lost its quorum. That committee is now made up of just Bilbray, the postmaster general and her deputy.

“This situation is worse than unacceptable,” Carper said on Thursday. “I believe it’s shameful.”

Congress has mandated the Postal Service operate like a business, but Carper said lawmakers are standing directly in the way of that goal.

“I can’t imagine something like this ever occurring in the private sector because shareholders would demand oversight from a strong board to protect their investment,” he said. “Congress needs to do its job and protect postal customers, as well as the investments of American taxpayers, by filling these positions.”

Several of the pending nominees are known entities; they were re-nominated by President Obama after their terms expired. For his part, Rosen served in the George W. Bush administration’s Transportation Department and Office of Management and Budget.

“I believe we have a real opportunity here to inject some badly needed talent into the Postal Service,” Carper said. “If we confirm all six of the pending nominees, we will make significant progress towards stabilizing and strengthening our Postal Service.”

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who served as OMB director during Rosen’s tenure there, called the nominee a “good friend” who is well qualified for the role. Rosen was confirmed unanimously by the committee.

Dave Partenheimer, a USPS spokesman, said in December the agency was “continuing to function” with just one confirmed governor.

“However, the role of the governors in ensuring the Postal Service’s ability to effectively achieve its statutory responsibilities is simply too important for there to be only a single governor in office,” Partenheimer said. “A full board made up of well-qualified governors with diverse perspectives is best suited to ensure the interests of the American public are represented in accordance with the policies set forth by Congress in the postal statute.”

The pending nominees have reportedly been held up by presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who has been an outspoken critic of the USPS management strategy to cut services and jobs as the agency attempts to deal with declining mail volume.