Democrats and Republicans fought bitterly Wednesday over proposals to save the U.S. Postal Service from financial ruin.
With the USPS perhaps just days away from insolvency, lawmakers sparred at a House Oversight subcommittee markup over what is needed to clean up the agency’s finances.
Republicans on the panel said their bill, which is expected to clear the subcommittee, would help control USPS labor costs, which account for around 80 percent of the agency’s expenses.
“The handwriting is on the wall. Either we make necessary systemic changes to the postal infrastructure, or we allow this proud American institution to disintegrate before our eyes,” said Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.), the chairman of the Oversight subcommittee that oversees USPS and a key sponsor of the House GOP bill.
But Democrats complained that the GOP was shutting them out of the process and slammed the bill’s treatment of postal workers.
“We are the handwriters,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking member of the Oversight panel, citing Ross’s comments. “And we can create the kind of system that is long-lasting, that does not fire people in this difficult economy.”
The GOP bill was approved by the subcommittee in an 8-5 vote Wednesday evening.
The back-and-forth came just before the end of a fiscal year, when USPS says it will lose upwards of $10 billion. The agency says it is fast approaching its borrowing limit of $15 billion.
USPS has declared that it will not make a $5.5 billion prepayment for retiree healthcare costs that is due at the end of September. The stopgap spending measure that the House rejected Wednesday would have pushed off that payment until mid-November.
The House GOP bill would, among other steps, allow the agency to move to five-day delivery, move away from door-to-door delivery in some instances and create a new commission to recommend post office closures and other cost-saving steps.
Under the new Democratic bill introduced Wednesday, USPS could branch out into other areas to bring in fresh revenues, like check-cashing and facility leasing.
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3 Responses
Why spend money on it. Just ban the internet. Convince everyone to be a 19th century reinactor.
Fed Ex and UPS are doing fine since they are not govt employes which means they have to work, plus it seems in Brooklyn all post office workers are Chinese.
@#2: “which means they have to work….”
Are you sure you’re from Lakewood?
P.S. The Post office is not (any longer) a govt agency and what is your inane reference to Chinese people about?