New Congress Brings Changes in USPS Oversight Committees

As in the US House of Representatives, the Senate is making several minor membership changes in the committee and subcommittee that has oversight jurisdiction over various governmental agencies, including the U.S. Postal Service.

The changes are not expected to affect long-standing agreements between House and Senate leaders to let the House take the lead in legislatively reforming the USPS, sources on Capitol Hill told Direct NewsLine yesterday. Four years ago, the sources said, Congressional leaders agreed to let the postal subcommittee of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. John McHugh (R-NY), set the course in developing legislation to overhaul the USPS.

“Nothing has changed in that regard,” said one highly placed Senate source. “By agreement, the Senate will go along with what ever postal reform bill the House passes.”

Although the subcommittee approved a postal reform bill sponsored by McHugh in September, the measure died with the expiration of the 105th Congress because of inaction by its parent committee which was then chaired by Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN). McHugh is expected to reintroduce the subcommittee-approved version of the bill today with the opening of the 106th Congress.

Yesterday House leaders renamed Burton chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, but stripped the panel of its investigative powers, giving that job to the House Operations Committee.

At the same time Sen. Fred Thompson, (R-TN) was renamed as chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) was designated as the panel’s ranking minority member.

Lieberman, who served as Connecticut’s Attorney General until elected to the Senate in 1988, succeeds former Sen. John Glenn of Ohio as ranking minority member on the full committee and Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), as ranking member of the permanent Senate subcommittee on investigations. Levin continues to serve as the ranking minority member of the Senate’s Armed Service’s Committee.

Levin, who is also leaving the federal services subcommittee, is being replaced by Sen. Daniel K. Akaka as ranking minority member.