Senator Carper on USPS Board of Governors: “Congress Must Act Now to Restore Appropriate Oversight of U.S Postal Service.”

WASHINGTON – Today, due to Congressional inaction, the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) Board of Governors has lost another two of its nine Senate-confirmed members, leaving only one appointed official to do the work of managing USPS activity alongside the Postmaster General and her management team. There are currently five nominees pending before the Senate. 

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released the following reaction to the news:

“Because of Congress’ inability to come to consensus on postal reform legislation over the last five years, the Postal Service continues to twist in the wind, only able to address the financial challenges it faces by degrading its primary service, fast and efficient delivery of the mail. Customers and stakeholders are left with uncertainty about what the future holds for the Postal Service and how the Postal Service will transform itself to remain relevant in the digital age.  

“Today, Congress made that uncertainty even worse. Obstruction in Congress has made it impossible to consider the five pending nominees for the Postal Board of Governors before the current board was rendered ineffective by term limits. This is negligence on the part of Congress. This would never occur in the private sector because shareholders would demand oversight from a strong board to protect their investment. Congress has failed to protect postal customers. Congress must act now to restore appropriate oversight to this vital $70 billion government-backed corporation and to enact reforms that will restore service and faith in this 200-year-old institution. This is particularly pressing as we enter the winter holidays where shipping and mail volume are expected to increase exponentially.  

“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.”

Sen. Carper introduced the Improving Postal Operations, Service, and Transparency Act of 2015 (iPOST) in September. iPOST reflects the views of a broad range of stakeholders and offers a compromise solution to the difficult issues that Congress and the Postal Service have struggled with for years. The bill includes a comprehensive package of reforms that would place the Postal Service on firm financial footing, stabilize and improve service performance, allow for the development of new products and services, and enhance transparency. The bipartisan bill is cosponsored by Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). 

For more information, including a section-by-section summary of the bill and bill text, please visit: www.carper.senate.gov/postalreform