It’s not news that frequent price increases, declining volume, and worsening service have characterized the Postal Service as the policies of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy have been implemented. It’s also not news that these conditions have drawn increasing attention from Congress and the Postal Regulatory Commission. Nonetheless, nothing has been done – other than hearings and letters and other protestations – to effectively alter the PMG’s course.
(In)action
Obviously, if the situation became sufficiently dire, Congress could step in, but what would define such a circumstance is open to question. Financially, the USPS remains deep in debt, but it has a sizeable cash reserve, so a crisis in that regard isn’t imminent. Service, however, is the more likely impetus for action, but not yet.
Congress responds to the concerns of constituents who, in the practical sense, include both voters back home and the influence groups who contribute to campaign war chests. If those voices complain enough politicians pay attention, start asking questions, writing letters, and holding hearings. Given that the PMG has been dismissive of such political oversight, there may be a time when, if service continues to stumble, legislative action could occur – but not yet.
Meanwhile, the Postal Service’s nominal regulator, the Postal Regulatory Commission, has only in recent months begun to behave more assertively, openly making observations in its decisions about the wisdom of Postal Service reductions in service standards, product changes, and price increases. Naturally, any such input has been ignored by the PMG as he continues unencumbered to do what he wants.
Ironically, as was shown just last week during Senate confirmation hearings for two renominations to the PRC (see page 7), some on the panel seem uncertain of the role of the PRC and what it can and cannot do. Repeatedly, for example, senators asked about service or information about it and what the PRC was doing to improve it, only to have the nominees tell them about how the legal charter under which the commission operates limits their authority. There, and in similar situations in the past, is where an important opportunity was lost.
Tools
Congress may assume that, based on the commission’s name, that it has true regulatory powers when, in fact, such powers are very limited. Price increases, for example, can be reviewed only for mathematical accuracy and compliance with statutes and PRC regulations, not for their business wisdom or impact on customers or commercial mail producers. More importantly, especially given politicians’ current worries about service, the PRC is limited to offering advisory opinions on changes to service standards, and nothing more. It can require data and reports but cannot order corrective actions or enforce any mandates.
Congress, and the statutory framework of the Postal Service, give the agency’s governors and, by extension, its executives the authority to manage and operate the USPS, obviously expecting such authority to be used with good judgement. Neither foresaw a Louis DeJoy and a panel of quiescent governors driving the Postal Service in what many now see as the perilously wrong direction.
So, when Congress asks the nominees to the PRC why the commission isn’t taking more effective action, the answer is because it lacks the authority to do so. And that’s where the answer stops, right at the opportunity to say what’s needed.
If Congress is frustrated with the USPS, its governors, or the PMG, it cannot ask the PRC what’s it’s doing to take corrective action if it – Congress – doesn’t give the commission the tools it needs to do so. At the same time, when before the very committee that would be critical to providing those tools, the PRC doesn’t ask for them, nothing will change. A good answer to a senator’s question about why you (a commissioner) aren’t doing thus-and-such to require better service, for example, would be “For the commission to do what you want, Congress would need to take legislative action to give us that authority. Giving advice is worthless because it can, and is being ignored. Only with expanded authority can the Postal Regulatory Commission really regulate the USPS.” Such a frank and candid response might be too much for mannerly exchanges, but it would put the onus for action squarely where it needs to be. Of course, the first step would be to take the opportunity to say it.
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