Having been leaked to the press earlier in the week, the big news from the Governors of the Postal Service was somewhat anti-climactic when, during the Friday public session of their May 9-10 meeting, they announced the selection of David Steiner as the 76th postmaster general. The official press release and concurrent Industry Alert contained the predictable paeans about the selectee from postal officials:
“The US Postal Service Board of Governors today announced that they have chosen David Steiner to be America’s 76th Postmaster General and CEO. Pending the outcome of necessary background and ethics checks, Steiner will succeed former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who resigned in March, and current Acting Postmaster General Doug Tulino, who will return to his permanent position as Deputy Postmaster General and Chief Human Resources Officer. We anticipate Steiner will formally join the organization in July, assuming his successful completion of the ethics and security clearance vetting processes.
“ ‘Dave is the right person to lead the Postal Service at this time to ensure this magnificent and historic organization thrives into the future,’ said Amber McReynolds, chair of the Postal Service Board of Governors. ‘Dave is a highly regarded leader and executive with tremendous vision, experience and skill that can be applied to the long-term mission and business needs of the Postal Service. Our Board looks forward to working with Dave as he takes on the core mandates of providing universal and excellent service for the American public and doing so in a financially sustainable manner.’ …”
In DeJoy’s footsteps
On May 7, The Washington Post broke the story, stating Steiner “emerged in recent days as a leading candidate for the role at FedEx’s recommendation, according to three people familiar with the search process.” According to the Post, Steiner had met with the president in Florida, after which “the president said he’d decided to offer the job to Steiner.” This helped “solidify the White House’s control over the historically independent mail service,” as the Post concluded.
Though statute affords the governors the exclusive right to hire and fire a postmaster general, the governors are themselves political appointees and, accordingly, would be responsive to political influence. The article suggested that the governors’ decision was little more than a formality, with at least three of them taking direction from the president. (There are four vacancies on the nine-member panel, including two from each political party and one independent.)
Another version
Since the Post article, another knowledgeable source has provided a different version of events.
In the weeks following Louis DeJoy’s departure, the governors had engaged an executive search firm and the process of developing candidates was under way. Names were submitted and interviews were conducted. However, the growing attention from the administration created a sense of urgency for the governors, and they pressed the search firm to compress its usual timeline from months to weeks.
Meanwhile, speculation in the mailing community centered around three possibilities: a current or former postal executive, an outsider with professional experience, or a dark horse chosen because of political connections.
(Similar conjecture had followed the retirement of Megan Brennan five years ago. At that time, Louis DeJoy wasn’t among the potential candidates until a conversation between political friends brought his name to the fore. When DeJoy was subsequently selected, the irregularity of the selection process led former USPS Inspector General and then-governor David Williams to resign in protest.)
By the end of April, the assumed candidate list appeared to have been narrowed to two: a former postal executive and former governor William Zollars. Given Zollars’ known allegiance to DeJoy and his Plan, the industry was heavily supportive of the former USPS executive, as was evident from the buzz at the National Postal Forum. No-one showed any awareness of other candidates – including Steiner.
Reportedly, the board had settled on Steiner, and was planning to complete the usual vetting process before making an official announcement. When Steiner’s selection leaked out and the Post broke the story, the governors felt compelled to announce their selection quickly, albeit with the caveat that it was “pending the outcome of necessary background and ethics checks” and that he won’t “formally join the organization” until those measures are completed.
The most significant difference between the Post version and the second version learned later is that Steiner, though having had conversations with the president, was actually already the Board’s preferred candidate based on his credentials and exceptional interview. Despite appearances, the source for the second version was adamant that Steiner was not a selection directed by the White House.
The Plan
Whether Steiner will embrace DeJoy’s Plan is unknown, but he reportedly favored an opportunity to review its elements before making a commitment.
When DeJoy first came to L’Enfant Plaza, with a background in trucking and not in mail, he quickly adopted an adversarial attitude toward commercial mailing companies. Many concluded that he’d been schooled by hard-line executives who had chafed for years over other PMGs’ engagement with, and responsiveness to mailers and their needs. DeJoy quickly built barriers between the industry and HQ staff, and adopted pricing and operational policies that hampered both volume growth and service performance.
The possibility that the remaining members of DeJoy’s inner circle will quickly inoculate Steiner with similar anti-mailer thinking is a serious concern to commercial ratepayers.
Though DeJoy eventually fell into disfavor with the White House – for making vote-by-mail successful, for agreeing to buy electric delivery vehicles, or for another reason – doesn’t mean that the tenets of his Plan are in disfavor, or that his successor won’t be inclined to continue parts of its implementation. Supposedly, Steiner neither was asked for nor volunteered any particular commitment to The Plan.
Clearly, its fruits so far have been massive financial losses, declining service, and bipartisan discontent in Congress stemming in no small part from citizen complaints. Barring being mesmerized by DeJoy’s remaining acolytes, it’s likely that Steiner will want to make his own inquiries before accepting the view that The Plan is the only path forward.
Observations
Steiner is far from the first “outsider” to lead the Postal Service. Five of the first nine of the agency’s postmasters general were non-postal, but none, perhaps not even Marvin Runyon, were as disruptive as Louis DeJoy.
Unfortunately for Steiner, he’s succeeding a political choice who was hired by a politically compliant board. In the current partisan climate, he was initially assumed to be another political choice delivered to the Board for its acceptance. Assuming reports to the contrary are accurate, Steiner might be wise to quickly make it clear he’s not DeJoy II.
Moreover, just as DeJoy had abandoned hard-copy mail in favor of pursuing package business, it would be important for Steiner – also a package guy with no prior familiarity with mail or the mailing business – to clarify what commercial mailers and other ratepayers should expect in that regard.
In the view of many, under DeJoy the USPS lost its focus on mail and service in favor of packages, full trucks, and “efficiency.” Steiner likely will get a briefing – about The Plan, as well as who in the industry and in Congress are “friends” and “enemies,” and about how the USPS has been “impaired” by the Postal Regulatory Commission – from the same executives who were DeJoy’s zealous allies. Steiner would be well advised to judge such input by its source.
It’s likely that DeJoy’s minions will try to get as much of his Plan implemented as possible before Steiner arrives, and it’s unlikely Steiner can do much to delay such measures if he’s not “officially” in charge.
Unfortunately for him, Steiner is coming in late in the game, and he’ll inherit the results of five years of Louis DeJoy’s Plan. By July, the pending rate cases (separately increasing market-dominant and competitive products) will have taken effect; major network changes – including Regional Transportation Optimization – will have been implemented; the third quarter of the USPS fiscal year will be over; and in just over two months the fiscal year will end and the holiday shipping season will be on the horizon.
Though dealing with all of this at the outset of his tenure will be a challenge, it also will be an indicator. Steiner’s words and actions will tell ratepayers all they need to know.