We Can Do Better Than That

We Can Do Better Than That
By Bob Levi
NAPS Director of Legislative & Political Affairs

The late, great House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings often exclaimed, “We can do better than that!” With this utterance, he inspired congressional colleagues and fellow citizens to look beyond their narrow and biased views to claim the high ground and try to solve America’s problems.

On July 25, I was privileged to accompany NAPS President Ivan D. Butts to the dedication of the Elijah Cummings Post Office, in Baltimore, MD. NAPS Capitol-Atlantic Area Vice President Troy Griffin also attended. Rep. Kweisi Mfume, ranking member on the House Government Operations Subcommittee, invited Ivan to speak at the dedication, joining Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, Cummings’ daughter and several family friends in paying tribute. The room was packed with current and former members of the Maryland congressional delegation, former Cummings staff members, community leaders, friends and local high school students. In his statement, Ivan pointed out that “naming a post office in Rep. Cummings’ memory is proper because just as the post office is the center of a community, so was Elijah. He dedicated his life to serving not just himself, but serving others. So, let that post office building serve as that beacon of light of what it truly means to serve others than yourself.”

Consistent with Cummings’ refrain of “we can do better than that,” our success in preventing anti-postal employee legislation from being attached to the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Act (H.R. 1) warrants a sigh of relief—not a cause for celebration. The reason is that House Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated Congress likely will consider another reconciliation bill before the end of 2025, in large part, to address the epic deficit created by H.R. 1.

In addition, as reported in the August issue of The Postal Supervisor, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) inspector general (IG) warned that OPM may not have the staffing and funding to conduct the 2025 Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program open season. The situation is a result of White House cuts to OPM, combined with DOGE-related retirements and downsizing.

The IG’s “Flash Report” on the PSHB open season delivered a rude awakening to those who were duped into thinking postal employee benefits were immune from administration action. The IG also identified lifecycle changes that could implicate PSHB enrollment changes, which would be impacted by potential OPM deficiencies.

NAPS was neither duped nor immobilized by the threat. During July and August, NAPS was on Capitol Hill lobbying for preventative congressional actions to safeguard the integrity of PSHB and the 2025 open season.

NAPS Executive Vice President Chuck Mulidore and I visited with many key members of the House and Senate and their staffs to shed a bright light on the risk posed by White House actions to dismantle, underfund and understaff operations essential to PSHB operations. (It is important to note that PSHB is part of FEHB and administered by OPM—not the USPS.)

NAPS’ legislative salvage efforts are bearing fruit. House Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman David Joyce (R-OH) informed us he added $28 million to OPM’s “salaries and expense” line of the agency budget to help finance OPM’s management of PSHB. We are awaiting the text of “report language” that would instruct OPM to use the funds for PSHB administration. Also, NAPS has been working closely with Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-ME) and her staff to bolster PSHB operations, particularly during open season. Collins and her staff have met with OPM to ascertain their preparation for the November open season and make sure the agency has the essential resources necessary to conduct the program. In addition, NAPS is collaborating with House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and new Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-CA), House Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Ranking Member Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) and Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-MI) on fulfilling their committees’ oversight responsibilities to guarantee PSHB is run effectively for the benefit of its 1.7 million participants. NAPS is committed to continuing to press Congress and the White House to safeguard postal employee health benefits.

On July 23, Mulidore offered testimony to the House Government Operations Subcommittee. In part, he urged Congress to pass the Postal Police Reform Act (H.R. 2095), legislation to restore the authority of the postal police force to protect postal employees, postal property and the mail inside and outside postal facilities. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) introduced the legislation.

In addition, NAPS’ testimony highlighted the findings of an IG “Management Alert” that highlighted mail security lapses at the USPS Denver Regional Transfer Hub. The IG reported the contract workforce committed mail theft, concealed destination mail tags under machinery and damaged parcels. The IG identified theft of mail-order pharmaceuticals as an issue.

Mulidore warned the subcommittee that attempts to privatize mail processing or postal logistics inevitably would lead to the same type of illicit results as occurred in Denver. The last point is particularly important as there has been growing discussion among members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee about outsourcing Postal Service processing and logistics functions.

Finally, on the Aug.1 episode of NAPS Chat, I hosted former Washington Post columnist Joe Davidson who covered the federal and postal employee beat for the past 17 years. He spoke about the treatment of federal and postal workers and the recent attacks on their earned benefits.

I encourage you to download the episode from the Legislative Center of the NAPS website. After listening to the podcast, I think you would agree, “we could do better than that.”