The five members of the Postal Regulatory Commission and the nine governors of the Postal Service are all appointed by the president and seated only after Senate confirmation. On each panel, a partisan majority cannot exceed one seat, which makes for interesting choices when a president must fill vacancies with a nominee from the other party. Also, both commissioners and governors can continue to serve for a “grace” or “carryover” year beyond the expiration of their terms or until a replacement is seated.
The PRC
The commissioners serve six-year terms, but the sequence of those terms isn’t especially logical. Three seats expire on October 14, two in 2028 and another in 2030, while two seats expire on November 22, one in 2026 and the other in 2030.
The term of commission Chairman Michael Kubayanda expires in 2026, while the terms of Vice-Chairman Tom Day and former Chairman Robert Taub end in 2028. The terms of Commissioners Ann Fisher and Ashley Poling were set to expire in late 2024, but both were renominated on April 11 and confirmed by the Senate on September 25 for terms expiring in 2030. As a result, the PRC has continued to have a full complement of commissioners, with two from each party and one independent.
The governors
The governors serve staggered seven year terms, all ending on December 8. Two expire in both 2028 and 2029, with one each expiring in 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2030. The terms of Donal Moak and William Zollars expired in December 2022; both served a holdover year but have since left, leaving the board two governors short. Meanwhile, the term of Anton Hajjar expired in 2023 and his holdover year expires next month, so his attendance at the board meeting last week was his last. Also on December 8, the term of current board chairman Roman Martinez IV will expire. Next year, the term of Robert Duncan will expire, followed by Amber McReynolds in 2026, Dan Tangherlini in 2027, and Derek Kan and Ron Stroman in 2028.
Marty Walsh was nominated last February to replace Moak; Val Butler Demings was nominated to replace Anton Hajjar, and William Zollars was nominated to return, on July 25; and Gordon Hartogensis was nominated to replace Martinez on September 9.
Walsh, formerly Mayor of Boston and, later, Secretary of Labor, is currently the Executive Director of the National Hockey League Players Association. Demings was Chief of the Orlando Police Department and later represented Florida’s 10th Congressional district. Zollars was an executive with Eastman Kodak and, later, with a major trucking company. Hartogensis is a former banking and software executive who later served as Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
On November 14, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing on the Demings, Hartogensis, and Zollars nominations, but the Walsh nomination was withdrawn without public explanation that same day, reportedly because of political opposition. Barring any further political gamesmanship, the other three should be confirmed and seated before the next Board of Governors meeting, likely in early 2025 after the end of the first quarter of the Postal Service’s 2025 fiscal year. However, given the remaining vacancy, the panel would still be one short of an even balance along party lines, given that one governor is an independent.
Meanwhile, at their November 14 meeting, the remaining seven members of the board elected Amber McReynolds chairman and Derek Kan vice-chairman for 2025. Regardless, the turnover of governors means that only Zollars and Robert Duncan would be left from the panel that selected Louis DeJoy to be Postmaster General in mid-2020. Many observers had wondered whether the departure of his original supporters would imperil DeJoy, but so far his tenure seems secure. Some attribute this to his assertion that only he has a Plan and only it can save the USPS. If that Plan continues to falter, however, the majority of the governors who are less invested in it might defect from the band of loyalists.
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