What the GOP Takeover of Congress Means
The Republican takeover of the Senate and expansion of seats in the House will fundamentally realign power dynamics in Washington. It means that the Republicans in January will control both chambers of Congress, likely leading to more bills over the next two years, both good and bad, landing on President Obama’s desk for signature, or veto. This could include postal legislation, as well as bills affecting federal health and retirement benefits.
Previously Republicans controlled only the House of Representatives, causing many House-passed bills that could be dangerous to feds to die in the Senate. Now, House-passed bills may find an easier path to the finish line in the Senate, although the Democratic filibusters could forestall Senate passage of many bills, with Republicans able to muster only 55 party-line votes, short of the 60 votes required to break a filibuster.
A Stronger GOP Influence on Policy
Most definitely, Republican governance of the House and Senate agendas and committees for the next two years will give the GOP a stronger hand in shaping legislation and influencing policy. This new alignment will potentially affect the Postal Service and the shape of federal pay and workforce benefits, to the likely detriment of postal workers and civil service.
Because legislative proposals spring from committees, the Senate and House postal and civil service panels could produce legislation unfriendly to postal and civil service employees and the federal workplace. These developments will begin with the chairmanships of the committees. In the upcoming 114th Congress, the chairmanships of both the Senate and House postal oversight committees will shift.
Postal Oversight Changes in the Senate and the House
With government waste-busting Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) retiring, Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) will likely pass the gavel of the postal oversight committee, called the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI). Senator Johnson is a Tea Party favorite with a business background, and has been a frequent critic of the federal workforce and the Postal Service. He has proposed significant federal budget cuts through reductions in federal employee and retiree benefits, including the realignment of the “high-three” federal retirement annuity formula. Johnson also has been a reluctant supporter of the Carper-Coburn postal legislation, S. 1486, and has preferred that the Postal Service undergo bankruptcy. He has fought with his home-state paper industry and mailers over raising postage rates.
Also, the membership of the Senate oversight committee will shift from nine Democrats and seven Republicans to nine Republicans and seven Democrats, a dramatic shift in power.
In addition, several of NAPS’ best friends on the Senate postal oversight committee will depart at the end of this Congress. Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) will retire after six terms as the longest-serving Senator in Michigan history. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) was defeated by Republican House Member Tom Cotton in November. Sen. Pryor championed legislation that would extend MSPB appeal rights over adverse actions and secured its inclusion in the Carper-Coburn postal reform bill, S. 1486. The political fate of two more endangered allies on the Senate committee remains uncertain. The victor in the reelection race of Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) had not yet been declared, and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) faced a difficult runoff election on December 6.
In the House, a contentious race is shaping up to succeed Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) to chair the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Rep. Issa is term-limited to continue at the helm of the Committee, opening up that chairmanship, with at least four members vying for the post: Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Michael Turner (R-OH), Jim Jordan (R-OH) and John Mica (R-FL).
Postal Reform’s Future?
The future of postal reform legislation remains in doubt. While Senate Chairman Carper continues to champion the reform package his committee approved earlier this year, several other Democratic members of the committee have begun to turn their support to a smaller, alternative set of reforms championed by the postal unions and the mailing industry. Many are pessimistic, however, that a deal can be reached during the brief lame-duck legislative session, throwing postal reform into the 114th Congress, where new Senate and House leaders will be in charge.
Meanwhile, NAPS and others continue to urge Congress to establish a one-year moratorium on the consolidation of 82 mail processing facilities, scheduled to begin in January. The Postal Service has kept its foot on the consolidation-preparation pedal in recent weeks, declining to provide affected communities with up-to-date information on how these changes will affect service delivery in their area. The Office of Inspector General in an October 6 management alert said the Postal Service was required by the 2006 postal law to undertake these Phase II consolidation impact studies before beginning consolidations.
Fifty-one Senators and a 160 House Members favor the inclusion of the moratorium in the omnibus government funding legislation that Congress is expected to pass during the lame duck session.
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Bruce Moyer
NAPS Counsel
I am a customer and a citizen just making a comment in support of all mail carriers throughout the united states. What congress is doing and has done over the years to this great organization is appalling when you consider, and correct me if I am wrong, that the USPS receives no tax money whatsoever from we as taxpayers in this country. And that they expect you to be solely dependent on sales and yet they put demands on your organization as if they are supporting you with government money.
Just another debacle in Washington. I for one am very grateful to all of you for your dedication and your hard work making sure that the mail gets through. And I stand with you in all your efforts to keep this organization thriving.
We cannot allow Washington to dismantle the USPS!
Using two types of accounting (accrual,cash) They can make anything look as they wish. We are out of cash because Congress took it, both with non-cash items like depreciation and the stupid prefunding. The Postal Service isn’t bankrupt, it was destroyed by Congress.
We can be sure that GOP legislation will be detrimental to the worker in the USPS, with retirement benefits on the block, probably a phased in incremental plan, which is good for those not far from retirement’s door, but it makes the attractiveness of joining the Service much worse, as many companies now compete easily in terms of benefits and pay for easier work and better conditions.
Carper is no friend of the postal worker. Proving that the party doesn’t really matter, he went from being a staunch supporter of the unions to a Republican in sheeps’ clothing. Those legislators will respond more to constituent pressure than anybody else.
President Obama has already indicated support of a five day week and that could become a very real possibility, depending on how much shit is attached to a bill of that sort. About all Democrats have to pull for right now is the veto pen.
The one thing that could help is to hope the GOP suffers from infighting between the more moderate wing and the lunatic Tea Party fringe, and both camps are already making noises about shutting the other side down. One can hope the Tea Party will be senseless enough to create a split that will cripple the GOP, allowing Democrats to possibly succeed to a point if and when GOP voters in Congress split to the point that the moderates put their lot in with Democrats to decrease the influence of the Tea Party.
We can see the hints of this scenario already as Tea Party victors are pledging to refuse to work with Democrats. They are probably unwilling to work with the moderate GOP rank and file, too. This will likely result in a Congressional session that will go absolutely nowhere. Should the GOP overall fail to pass any kind of legislation and continue the idiotic gridlock that has plagued the country for a couple decades now, the tide will swiftly turn once again.
The Democrates had a majority from 2008 to 2010. They had there chance to pass postal reform but they didn’t. Besides anything Congress passes that are unpopular with the unions will be vetoed by Obama because he received COLCPE money. Wait he supports “5 day the only way” delivery. DONT GIVE TO COLPCE!! They will only give it to Dem. that will destroy the unions.
The demoncrap agenda was shut down by the voters. Let’s not start the scare tactics until there is basis for them.
Yea bankrupt the the United Ststes Postal Setvice. While your at it bankrupt the ole US gov.lost.
What a joke