Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service

The Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service is the governing body of the United States Postal Service (USPS).[1] The board oversees the activities of the Postal Service, while the postmaster general actively manages its day-to-day operations.[2]

Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service
Agency overview
TypeGoverning body
JurisdictionUnited States Postal Service
Headquarters475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, D.C.
Employees7 board members
Agency executive
Key document
Websiteabout.usps.com/who/leadership/board-governors/

The board directs "the exercise of the power" of the Postal Service, controls its expenditures and reviews its practices and policies.[3] It consists of 11 members, 6 are requisite to achieve an ordinary quorum. Of the 11 board members, 9 are the presidentially appointed governors, 1 is the postmaster general, and 1 is the deputy postmaster general. The 9 governors elect the postmaster general, the chairman of the board as well as the USPS inspector general; the governors and the postmaster general elect the deputy postmaster general. No more than five governors may be adherents of the same political party. The board also has the power to remove all of these officers.[4]

The Board of Governors is comparable with the board of directors of most private corporations.

History

Until 2007 each governor was appointed to a nine-year term or to the remainder of the unexpired term of a vacant seat. Terms of the nine appointed governors are staggered, commence after Senate confirmation and expire on December 8 of the year that the term would have ended had the terms been properly synchronised. The board can extend the term of a governor whose term is to expire by one year or until a successor has been confirmed, without Senate confirmation. Governors may be appointed for a second term, with Senate confirmation. No more than five of the nine governors may be of the same political party. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, signed by President George W. Bush on December 20, 2006,[5] besides other things, changed the terms of governors appointed after that date from nine to seven years.

The board has not been fully staffed since 2010.[4] On November 14, 2014 (with effect on February 1, 2015), the board appointed Megan Brennan postmaster general, to succeed Patrick R. Donahoe. In December 2014, the extended term of Mickey D. Barnett was to expire, while the Senate had still not confirmed five nominees submitted by President Obama.[6] Just prior to the loss of its quorum, the board delegated its authority to a “Temporary Emergency Committee“ (TEC) comprising the board members for the time being, with the same authority as the board had with 9 appointed members, but without the quorum requirement.[7] After December 2014, there were three appointed board members (James Bilbray, Ellen Williams and Louis J. Giuliano) as well as the postmaster general, Patrick R. Donahoe, and the deputy PMG, Ronald A. Stroman, a total of five of the 11 members, and not enough to constitute a quorum. Megan Brennan became ex officio member of the board on February 1, 2015. The extended terms of Ellen Williams and Louis J. Giuliano both expired in December 2015, and James Bilbray became the sole remaining appointed member.[4] His nine-year term was extended by one year and he ceased to be a member in December 2016. At that point there were no appointed members on the board,[8] and the PMG (Megan Brennan) and deputy PMG (Ronald A. Stroman) made up the TEC.

In October 2017, President Donald Trump nominated three individuals to the board: Robert (Mike) Duncan, a former White House official during the George W. Bush administration, Calvin Tucker, and David Williams, former USPS inspector general.[8] On August 28, 2018, the Senate confirmed Mike Duncan as chairman, and David Williams, as vice-chairman.[9] On November 29, 2018, the governors appointed Tammy L. Whitcomb the USPS inspector general.[10]

On August 1, 2019, the Senate confirmed three more nominations, allowing the board to reach a quorum for the first time since 2014. The new members are Ron Bloom and Roman Martinez IV, both former investment bankers, and John Barger, former director of the Investment and Retirement Boards of the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, the country's largest pension fund.[11]

In March 2020, President Trump nominated Donald L. Moak to replace Alan C. Kessler[12] (who had resigned in July 2011)[13] and nominated William D. Zollars to replace James Bilbray (who had ceased being a member in December 2016). David C. Williams resigned from the board on April 30, 2020, and Ronald A. Stroman resigned on June 1, 2020, as deputy PMG. On June 15, 2020, the TEC, comprising five members, selected Louis DeJoy to succeed Megan Brennan as Postmaster General (PMG). The Senate confirmed both nominations on June 18, 2020. As at August 2020, the board had six appointed members plus the PMG, sufficient to constitute a quorum on the board. Five of the board members are Republicans.

There were calls in January 2021 for President Joe Biden to quickly fill the vacant seats on the USPS Board of Governors. Critics including union members note the politicization of the USPS, the mishandling of absentee ballots during the 2020 elections, and holiday delivery delays. Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union also noted the lack of diversity on the current Board: all members are men, there are no Afro-Americans, and there is no one from a rural area. Philip F. Rubio, history professor at North Carolina A&T State University, notes that the Board is accountable to no one and the postmaster general is accountable only to the Board. Rubio has described Louis DeJoy′s changes as "sabatoge," and Congressman Bill Pascrell, (D-NJ) said, "Fire everybody at the top. They've done a lousy job." Dimondstein has suggested improving services by including financial services such as paycheck cashing, installing ATMs, and handling bill paying and overseas remittances.[14]

Responsibilities

The board directs the exercise of the powers of the Postal Service, directs and controls its expenditures, reviews its practices, conducts long-range planning and sets policies on all postal matters. The board takes up matters such as service standards, capital investments and facilities projects exceeding $25 million. It also approves officer compensation.[15] The board generally meets once a month. Each January, the governors elect a chairman and a vice-chairman. Each governor receives $300 per day for not more than 42 days of meetings each year and travel expenses, in addition to an annual salary of $30,000. The governors employ a full-time corporate secretary who serves as the primary staff assistant to the board.

Current members

Currently, the board comprises:[16]

NameTitlePolitical partyTerm beginTerm expirationNotes
Louis DeJoyPostmaster GeneralRepublicanJune 15, 2020No term limit75th United States postmaster general[17]
Robert M. DuncanGovernor, ChairmanRepublicanAugust 2018December 8, 2025Re-elected as chairman in November 2019[18]
Roman Martinez IVGovernorRepublican[19]August 1, 2019December 8, 2024Chair of Audit and Finance Committee[20]
John McLeod BargerGovernorRepublican[21]August 1, 2019December 8, 2021Chair of Compensation and Governance Committee[22]
Donald L. MoakGovernor[23]Democratic[24]June 18, 2020December 8, 2022Replacing Alan C. Kessler[25]
William D. ZollarsGovernor[26]Republican[27]June 18, 2020December 8, 2022Replacing James H. Bilbray[25]
VacantGovernor
VacantGovernor
Vacant Governor
VacantGovernor

Recent former members
NameTitleDates in officeNotes
David C. WilliamsVice Chairman of the Board of GovernorsOctober 30, 2017[28] - April 30, 2020[29]Term expired on December 8, 2019; board approved up to an additional year; Williams resigned on April 30, 2020
Ronald A. StromanDeputy Postmaster GeneralApril 4, 2011[30] - June 1, 2020[31]Gave resignation notice on May 13, 2020 effective June 1, 2020.
James C. Miller III2003-12
James Bilbray2006 – December 8, 2016
Ron A. Bloom Chair of Strategy and Innovation Committee. August 20, 2019 - December 8, 2020 Term expired on December 8, 2020

References
  1. "39 U.S. Code § 202 - Board of Governors". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  2. "39 U.S. Code § 203 - Postmaster General; Deputy Postmaster General". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  3. "39 U.S. Code § 205 - Procedures of the Board of Governors". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  4. "Who is running the Postal Service? Why is there only one person on the board?". Newsweek. June 17, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  5. Pub.L. 109–435 (text) (pdf)
  6. "Congress Fails to Confirm Postal Nominees, but USPS Says It's Found a Workaround". Government Executive. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  7. "USPS Board of Governors aka 'Temporary Emergency Committee' to hold teleconference January 7th". PostalReporter.com. December 23, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  8. "USPS Board of Governors Gets First Nominations After Being Vacant for a Year". American Philatelic Society. Archived from the original on March 30, 2018. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  9. "USPS Board of Governors activity in Senate and White House". National Association of Letter Carriers AFL-CIO. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  10. "USPS Board of Governors Appoint Inspector General". PostalReporter.com. December 1, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  11. "USPS board finally reaches quorum as 10-year business plan comes into focus". Federal News Network. August 2, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  12. "Seventeen Nominations and One Withdrawal Sent to the Senate". Trump White House Website. March 2, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  13. "USPS Board Of Governors Member Alan C. Kessler Resigns". PostalReporter.com. July 6, 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  14. Naylor, Brian (January 29, 2021). "Calls Mount For President Biden To Shake Up Postal Service's Leadership". NPR.org. NPR. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  15. "About the Board of Governors". about.usps.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
  16. USPS: Leadership
  17. "Board of Governors Announces Selection of Louis DeJoy to Serve as Nation's 75th Postmaster General - Newsroom - About.usps.com". about.usps.com. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  18. "Chairman, USPS Board of Governors Robert M. Duncan - Who we are/Leadership - About.usps.com". about.usps.com. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  19. Katz, Eric. "USPS Regains a Functioning Governing Board for the First Time in Five Years". Government Executive. Government Media Executive Group LLC. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  20. "USPS Board of Governors Roman Martinez IV - Who we are/Leadership - About.usps.com". about.usps.com. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  21. "Senate committee advances BOG nomination of John Barger". National Association of Letter Carriers. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  22. "USPS Board of Governors John M. Barger - Who we are/Leadership - About.usps.com". about.usps.com. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  23. "USPS Board of Governors Donald L. Moak - Who we are/Leadership - About.usps.com". about.usps.com. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  24. "Individual Contributions". Federal Election Commission. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  25. "Moak and Zollars Confirmed to Postal Board of Governors". National Association of Letter Carriers. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  26. "USPS Board of Governors William D. Zollars - Who we are/Leadership - About.usps.com". about.usps.com. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  27. "Zollars, William D." ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  28. Corbett, Joseph (November 14, 2017). USPS-2017.09.30-10-K (PDF) (Report). p. 40. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  29. Marshall, Thomas J. (May 4, 2020). USPS Form 8-K (PDF) (Report). Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  30. "Deputy Postmaster General List - Who We Are - USPS". about.usps.com. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  31. Heckman, Jory (May 13, 2020). "USPS board set to lose quorum as deputy postmaster general resigns". Federal News Network. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
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