'24 Election in the Rearview Mirror, '25 Legislative Agenda Straight Ahead

December 8, 2024

’24 Election in the Rearview Mirror, ’25 Legislative Agenda Straight Ahead
By Bob Levi
NAPS Director of Legislative & Political Affairs

Once again, the United States Postal Service demonstrated its ability to provide American citizens with an accessible, secure and efficient means of participating in our nation’s democracy. Well over 45 million Americans cast their ballots by mail in the 2024 general election. Notably, there have been no credible accusations of any ballot impropriety regarding these votes. With this sacred tool of citizen engagement, the American electorate spoke.

One thing is clear, a “red tide” burst the banks of the Potomac River and swept away Democratic-majority control of the Senate and its party’s White House occupancy. The election results also enabled the Republicans to maintain a razor-thin majority in the House. Consequently, the legislative and political environment in our nation’s capital will, for the most part, be dictated by the Republican Party.

Regrettably, the electorate retired two veteran NAPS allies—Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jon Tester (D-MT). Both have been relentless advocates for a universal Postal Service and steadfast guardians of the federal workforce, but they could not overcome President-Elect Trump’s substantial coattails in their states.

Also defeated for reelection was Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA).Inasmuch as Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) will be va-cating his seat to become vice president and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) will be vacating his seat on Senate confirmation as secretary of state, the Republican governors of Ohio and Florida will be appointing senators who will serve at least through 2026.

In the House, many of our allies in competitive races were reelected, but some were not. The bottom line is that SPAC-supported congressional candidates (i.e., incumbents and challengers) won 92% of their races. These individuals included Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

For the postal community, the most immediate and consequential impact of the Republicans reclaiming the Senate majority after a four-year pause is the gavel of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will pass to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). His postal priorities, views about the federal workforce and legislative philosophy contrast with current Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI).

Over two years ago, Paul was one of only 19 senators who voted against the Postal Reform Act of 2022. More recently, Paul has been extremely critical of Postal Service performance and finances, arguing, in part, that financial assistance must be contingent on “significant structural labor changes” being made to workforce hiring and retention.

During committee consideration, Paul voted against confirmation of PRC members Thomas Day (September 2023) and Ashley Poling (July 2024). This reticence about USPS support may inform Paul’s position on such legislative priorities as enacting a fair method of calculating the agency’s pension liability and increasing its borrowing authority.

On Nov. 14, Peters held a confirmation hearing on three of the four Biden-nominated members to the Postal Service Board of Governors: Val Demings, William Zollars and Gordon Hartogensis. Demings is a Democrat; Zollars and Hartogensis are Republicans. Nominee Martin Walsh removed his name from consideration on the eve of the hearing.

It is unclear whether Paul, presently the ranking Republican on the committee, will stall consideration of the three remaining nominees. The vote is intended to take place before the end of the year. Paul could seek to halt committee action, awaiting his ascension to the chairmanship and Trump’s inauguration. Trump then could submit his own four nominees to a Republican-controlled Senate.

Inasmuch as Republicans have retained their narrow House majority, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) will retain chairmanship of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee; Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) will continue as the committee’s ranking Democrat. It is expected that Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) also will continue to chair the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Postal Service and the federal workforce; Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) will continue to serve as the subcommittee’s ranking member.

Early next year, the soon-to-be sworn-in Congress plans to swiftly introduce and prioritize bills that align with the president’s legislative agenda. It’s important to note that, for the past two years, the House focused on executive branch oversight as a Democrat occupied the Oval Office. One of Trump’s major bread-and-butter campaign promises was to enact new tax cuts, including a plan to reduce corporate tax rates and extend his 2017 tax cuts.

Among his new promises was to exempt tips and overtime pay, along with Social Security benefits, from federal income tax. According to the Center for a Responsible Federal Budget, a bipartisan think tank, the 10-year cost of all Trump’s proposed tax cuts would be about $9.15 trillion—a massive price tag. Congress will seek offsets for these tax cuts.

Of course, the low-hanging fruit are federal and postal employee benefits. As we have grown accustomed, among the prime targets for such offsets are CSRS and FERS cost-of-living adjustments, federal health premiums and the formula for calculating federal and postal pensions. This anticipated tax package would be included in a “reconciliation bill.”

This is a type of bill that the Senate cannot filibuster and only requires a simple Senate majority vote—not a 60-vote super majority. So, right out of the legislative gate, NAPS must be vigilant regarding any attempt to link postal benefits to a tax package.

NAPS also will be attentive to Trump’s nominees to key federal agencies that may have an impact on the Postal Service and its financial health. As mentioned, the Senate may decline to take up Biden’s nominees to the Postal Board of Governors before adjourning this year.

In addition, we will be watching who will be nominated to direct the White House Office of Management and Budget, the agency that develops the federal budget and weighs in on virtually all federal policy. During the first Trump administration, the Department of the Treasury secretary had a large voice on postal borrowing authority and sought executive branch oversight of the Postal Service.

The Office of Personnel Management has authority over the federal pension systems (FERS and CSRS) and business moguls Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to a proposed White House commission tasked with slashing government spending and restructuring federal agencies. This may have serious implications for the Postal Service and its employees.

Lastly, on Nov. 14, the Postal Board of Governors elected Amber McReynolds as its new chair and Derek Kan as its new vice chair.

So, with the elections behind us, we must look ahead.