Government affairs

Today, in an 89 to 0 vote, the Senate confirmed Robert M. Duncan to be a Governor of the United States Postal Service for a term expiring December 8, 2025. As the current Chairman of the Board of Governors (BOG), this will be Duncan’s second term.

Following a cloture vote yesterday evening, Duncan’s confirmation vote was expedited as per a new rule in the Senate put in place on April 3, 2019 that reduced the maximum time nominations can be considered after cloture has been invoked from 30 hours to 2 hours. This rule change has allowed vastly more presidential nominees to be considered and confirmed. For instance, since the start of the 116th Congress, 7 judicial nominees were confirmed before the rule was enacted and since its enaction, 88 judicial nominees have been confirmed (as of December 4).¹

In addition to being the current Chairman of the BOG, Duncan is also a banker and the former chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2007 to 2009. He previously worked in the administrations of both George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, serving as head of the Tennessee Valley Authority. In 2017, he was appointed by President Trump to lead the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

As letter carriers are aware, the Board of Governors was created by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 (PRA) to oversee and direct the executive management of the Postal Service. The BOG consists of up to nine governors appointed by the President and may serve terms up to seven years. With Duncan’s confirmation to a second term, there are currently five members plus the Postmaster General and Deputy Postmaster General.

NALC expects the White House to nominate more individuals to serve on the BOG in the future.