First 100: Postal Transformation Plan Has Democratic Board Support

Plus, let’s get real, there doesn’t look to be any action forthcoming on gun violence.

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It’s March 24, 2021 and welcome to First 100. You can sign up to have First 100 delivered to your email by clicking here.

The Chief

Congressional Democrats came out firing against Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s long-promised 10-year plan to revolutionize the postal service. “A draconian plan that guarantees the death spiral of the United States Postal Service,” said Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-VA). “Unacceptable” and “should not be implemented,” offered House Oversight Committee chair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). “I am not sure how our postal workers who remain on the frontlines of our national COVID response can view DeJoy’s plans as anything other than a gratuitous slap,” said Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA).

The actual mail unions, made up of those postal workers on the front lines, were gentler. The National Association of Letter Carriers opened by noting “many positive elements” and ultimately called the plan a “good starting point,” despite “obvious concerns with certain operational elements.” The American Postal Workers Union, the most vocal about DeJoy and restoration of the postal service mission, took a halfhearted approach, saying “there are elements of this plan the APWU will support and there elements of the plan we will oppose.”

The biggest thing to me in the 58-page plan was the introductory letter, from DeJoy and the chair of the Postal Service Board of Governors, Democrat Ron Bloom. Him and the other Democrat on the board, Donald Moak, appear to be fully on board with these changes, and even if and when three other Democrats join them for a majority on the board, I’m not sure that firing DeJoy, despite the abominable performance since he became Postmaster General, is on the agenda. That’s why the postal unions aren’t going scorched earth on this plan, because they know they’re going to have to deal with it. Unless President Biden heeds the call of Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) and others to fire the entire postal board and start anew with someone who will fire DeJoy, some version of this plan is coming to a post office near you.

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So what does that mean? The goal is to eliminate a projected $160 billion operating deficit over the next 10 years. There are improvements to the package delivery network alongside degradations to letter delivery; first-class mail would take longer to reach its intended target, up to five days in some cases. Rates would almost certainly be higher, perhaps much higher, for stamps. And there would be shorter hours (“aligning retail hours to meet customer needs”) and consolidation (closing) of low-traffic branches, stations, and plants.

The internal network changes seem like an extension of what DeJoy has already put in place, to disastrous results. More mail would move through surface transportation than air because USPS controls ground shipping, which is a bizarre return to the Pony Express era. And I’m very wary of allowing “pop-up kiosks” for other businesses inside post offices, essentially renting out valuable public space.

There are more positive changes. There’s $40 billion of capital investment in this plan, including $4 billion to modernize retail post offices, technology upgrades, and a vow to fully electrify the postal fleet by 2035. (The plan says it could be done faster with an $8 billion investment from Congress.) Saturday delivery is maintained. Services to direct mail and e-commerce businesses will be increased.

Post offices will become a “storefront for government services” like passport photos and notary signatures. (There’s some very ominous talk about doing “fingerprint” and “biometric capture” in the plan.) There’s an expansion of P.O. Boxes in certain areas and a move to street-style addressing, which would allow for package delivery. I had been hearing rumors that DeJoy might even endorse postal banking in a bid to save his job, but there’s none of that in here. The APWU statement says they will “continue to advocate” for it.

Finally there are some benefits for workers, although cutting hours and consolidating facilities will obviously hurt some of them. There’s a commitment to reduce turnover by 50 percent, and to convert thousands of employees to career status. And there’s a role for Congress, to pass legislation that integrates employees into Medicare and ends the ridiculous pre-funding requirement that has no precedent anywhere in the public or private sector. Those two changes alone fill over one-third of the funding gap, and even more over the long term.

This could have been worse, but unless there’s a change of heart on the Board of Governors, we’re probably stuck with some iteration of this plan, and with DeJoy, someone who can’t really be trusted to pull off even the most optimistic version of this report.

Nothing Doing on Guns

I haven’t said anything about the escalating tragedies of gun violence recently because I can’t see that there’s anything to say. The political system has proven by its inaction a commitment to allow these scenes of mass death to dot our landscape. Nothing will be done and I’m not sue the best-case, filibuster-free scenarios of the Democrats would move the needle that much.

Take as exhibit A our friend and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), who took one of the few bold stands in his political life to co-author commercial background check legislation with Republican Pat Toomey (R-PA), in a failed effort in 2013 after the Newtown shooting. This is a pinched proposal that’s unlikely to do much, but the House passed a version that’s maybe half a notch more aggressive last week, by including private-party transactions, online, and gun show sales. Manchin’s against that. Even if you take the filibuster away (which Democrats don’t have the votes for right now), the best you’re going to get is the compromise Manchin-Toomey proposal. An assault weapons or high-capacity magazine ban? Good luck with that.

Chuck Schumer’s going to get everyone on record for this, and Biden has used his platform to speak out, particularly in favor of the assault weapons ban. I don’t really see any advance on the horizon, though.

What Day of Biden’s Presidency Is It?

Day 64.

Today I Learned

  • Tammy Duckworth’s threat to hold up Biden nominees over lack of Asian American representation didn’t last 24 hours. (USA Today)
  • Biden is loving the praise he’s getting for being bolder than Obama. Results beget results. (Axios)
  • The minimum wage discussions are proceeding almost exactly as I pictured: a faster path to $11/hour. Let’s see how Republicans react. (Politico)
  • Judicial nominations have been slow because Biden’s being pressured to look outside of BigLaw for candidates. (Slate)
  • Biden’s quiet climate agenda. (Grist)
  • Eliminating the SALT cap would be a terrible idea, and I say that as someone who would benefit from it. (Bloomberg)
  • I wouldn’t be so sure about Big Pharma losing a round, but if you’re looking for a popular pay-for, “cheaper prescription drugs” would be it. (Politico)
  • The burgeoning K Street job market in people who used to work for people who work for Biden. (Axios)

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