United States Code (Last Updated: May 24, 2014) |
Title 39. POSTAL SERVICE |
Part I. GENERAL |
Chapter 2. ORGANIZATION |
§ 202. Board of Governors
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(a) (1) The exercise of the power of the Postal Service shall be directed by a Board of Governors composed of 11 members appointed in accordance with this section. Nine of the members, to be known as Governors, shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, not more than 5 of whom may be adherents of the same political party. The Governors shall elect a Chairman from among the members of the Board. The Governors shall represent the public interest generally, and shall be chosen solely on the basis of their experience in the field of public service, law or accounting or on their demonstrated ability in managing organizations or corporations (in either the public or private sector) of substantial size; except that at least 4 of the Governors shall be chosen solely on the basis of their demonstrated ability in managing organizations or corporations (in either the public or private sector) that employ at least 50,000 employees. The Governors shall not be representatives of specific interests using the Postal Service, and may be removed only for cause. Each Governor shall receive a salary of $30,000 a year plus $300 a day for not more than 42 days of meetings each year and shall be reimbursed for travel and reasonable expenses incurred in attending meetings of the Board. Nothing in the preceding sentence shall be construed to limit the number of days of meetings each year to 42 days. (2) In selecting the individuals described in paragraph (1) for nomination for appointment to the position of Governor, the President should consult with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the minority leader of the House of Representatives, the majority leader of the Senate, and the minority leader of the Senate. (b) (1) The terms of the 9 Governors shall be 7 years, except that the terms of the 9 Governors first taking office shall expire as designated by the President at the time of appointment, 1 at the end of 1 year, 1 at the end of 2 years, 1 at the end of 3 years, 1 at the end of 4 years, 1 at the end of 5 years, 1 at the end of 6 years, 1 at the end of 7 years, 1 at the end of 8 years, and 1 at the end of 9 years, following the appointment of the first of them. Any Governor appointed to fill a vacancy before the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall serve for the remainder of such term. A Governor may continue to serve after the expiration of his term until his successor has qualified, but not to exceed one year. (2) No person may serve more than 2 terms as a Governor. (c) The Governors shall appoint and shall have the power to remove the Postmaster General, who shall be a voting member of the Board. His pay and term of service shall be fixed by the Governors. (d) The Governors and the Postmaster General shall appoint and shall have the power to remove the Deputy Postmaster General, who shall be a voting member of the Board. His term of service shall be fixed by the Governors and the Postmaster General and his pay by the Governors. (e) (1) The Governors shall appoint and shall have the power to remove the Inspector General. (2) The Inspector General shall be appointed— (A) for a term of 7 years; (B) without regard to political affiliation; and (C) solely on the basis of integrity and demonstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial analysis, law, management analysis, public administration, or investigations. (3) The Inspector General may at any time be removed upon the written concurrence of at least 7 Governors, but only for cause. Nothing in this subsection shall be considered to exempt the Governors from the requirements of section 8G(e) of the Inspector General Act of 1978.
References In Text
Section 8G of the Inspector General Act of 1978, referred to in subsec. (e), is section 8G of Pub. L. 95–452, which is set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Amendments
2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–435, § 501(a)(1), designated existing provisions as par. (1) and substituted “The Governors shall represent the public interest generally, and shall be chosen solely on the basis of their experience in the field of public service, law or accounting or on their demonstrated ability in managing organizations or corporations (in either the public or private sector) of substantial size; except that at least 4 of the Governors shall be chosen solely on the basis of their demonstrated ability in managing organizations or corporations (in either the public or private sector) that employ at least 50,000 employees. The Governors shall not be representatives of specific interests using the Postal Service, and may be removed only for cause.” for “The Governors shall be chosen to represent the public interest generally, and shall not be representatives of specific interests using the Postal Service, and may be removed only for cause.”
Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 109–435, § 501(b), added par. (2).
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 109–435, § 501(d)(1), designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2).
Pub. L. 109–435, § 501(c)(1), which directed amendment of first sentence by substituting “7 years” for “9 years”, was executed by making substitution for “9 years” the first place appearing in first sentence, to reflect the probable intent of Congress.
1996—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–208, § 101(f) [title VI, § 644(a)], substituted “$30,000 a year” for “$10,000 a year”.
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104–208, § 101(f) [title VI, § 662(a)(1)], added subsec. (e).
1985—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–190 substituted “42” for “30” in two places.
1983—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98–81 inserted provision that a Governor may continue to serve after the expiration of his term until his successor has qualified, but not to exceed one year.
Effective Date Of Amendment
Pub. L. 109–435, title V, § 501(a)(2),
Pub. L. 109–435, title V, § 501(c)(2),
Pub. L. 109–435, title V, § 501(d)(2),
Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title I, § 101(f) [title VI, § 644(b)],
Effective Date
Section effective
Savings
Payment to Governors of Board of Governors of Postal Service of $300 a day for not more than 60 days of meetings in each of first 2 years following effective date of this section [see Effective Date note set out above], notwithstanding this section, see section 5(g) of Pub. L. 91–375, set out as a note preceding section 101 of this title.