Government affairs

The House and Senate were in session this week and both have cancelled their planned recesses in the upcoming week due to the partial government shutdown, which is now the longest in history at 28 days. With no apparent end in sight, 800,000 federal employees are affected with some 450,000 continuing to work without pay. The back and forth communications between the House Majority and the White House have yielded no results. NALC encourages members to stand in solidarity with our impacted brothers and sisters by calling on the senate to take up the House-passed measures to reopen the government. A link can be found here.

White House Re-Nominates Board of Governors

On January 16, the White House submitted four nominees to serve on the Postal Board of Governors. They are: Ron A. Bloom, of New York, for the remainder of a seven-year term expiring December 8, 2020; Robert M. Duncan, of Kentucky, for a seven-year term expiring December 8, 2025; Roman Martinez IV, of Florida, for the remainder of a seven-year term expiring December 8, 2024; and Calvin R. Tucker, of Pennsylvania, for the remainder of a seven-year term expiring December 8, 2023.

All four nominees were previously submitted to the Senate in the 115th Congress, but failed to advance. They will now need to be reconsidered by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC) and voted out before their nominations can proceed to the Senate floor. To read more about these nominees click here and here.

NALC Priority Resolutions Reintroduced

All four of NALC’s priority resolutions have now been introduced in the House of Representatives in the 116th Congress. These include resolutions protecting door delivery (H. Res. 23), opposing privatization of the Postal Service (H. Res. 33), protecting six-day delivery (H. Res. 54), and returning service standards to 2012 levels (H. Res. 60).

All four resolutions reached a bipartisan majority of supporting cosponsors in the previous Congress and are now accepting cosponsors. NALC encourages all letter carriers to contact their Members of Congress to become cosponsors on these resolutions.

House Resolution 23 (H. Res. 23) – Door Delivery
Status: Introduced by Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA)
Co-sponsors: 7 (4 Democrat – 3 Republicans)

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of door delivery for all business and residential customers.

House Resolution 33 (H. Res. 33) – Anti-Privatization
Status: Introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA)
Co-sponsors: 61 (54 Democrat – 7 Republicans)

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization.

House Resolution 54 (H. Res. 54) – Six-Day Mail Delivery
Status: Introduced by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA)
Co-sponsors: 2 (1 Democrats – 1 Republicans)

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its six-day mail delivery service.

House Resolution 60 (H. Res. 60) – Service Standards
Status: Introduced by Rep. David McKinley (R-WV)
Co-sponsors: 6 (3 Democrats – 3 Republicans)

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to restore service standards in effect as of July 1, 2012.