Title: Nonpartisan Postmaster General Act of 2020
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Nonpartisan Postmaster General Act
This bill restricts the political activities of the members of the Postal Service Board of Governors, including the Postmaster General and the Deputy Postmaster General.
Specifically, the bill (1) prohibits the Postmaster General and the Deputy Postmaster General from taking an active part in political management or political campaigns; (2) prohibits the Board of Governors, the Postmaster General, and the Deputy Postmaster General from holding any political position while in office or soliciting funds for the campaign of a candidate for elected office or for a political party; and (3) restricts nominees for Postmaster General and Deputy Postmaster General to those who have not engaged in political activities in the four years prior to their appointments.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8109 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8109

 To clarify and increase the restrictions on political activities that 
are applicable to the members of the Postal Service Board of Governors, 
including the Postmaster General and the Deputy Postmaster General, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 25, 2020

  Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York introduced the following bill; 
      which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To clarify and increase the restrictions on political activities that 
are applicable to the members of the Postal Service Board of Governors, 
including the Postmaster General and the Deputy Postmaster General, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Nonpartisan Postmaster General 
Act''.

SEC. 2. POSTAL SERVICE OFFICERS' POLITICAL ACTIVITIES LIMITED.

    (a) Hatch Act Officer Applicability.--
            (1) In general.--Section 410 of title 39, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(e) For the purposes of applying subchapter III of chapter 73 of 
title 5, and any regulations thereunder, to the Postal Service pursuant 
to subsection (b)(1), the following are deemed to be employees of the 
Postal Service:
            ``(1) The Postmaster General.
            ``(2) The Deputy Postmaster General.
            ``(3) Any individual holding a position in the Postal 
        Service to which such individual was appointed by the 
        President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
        including a Governor appointed under section 202.''.
            (2) Further restricted employees.--Section 7323(b)(2)(B) of 
        title 5, United States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in clause (i)(XIV), by striking ``or'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new clause:
            ``(iii) a person holding a position described in section 
        410(e) of title 39.''.
    (b) Political Activities of Board Members.--Section 202 of title 
39, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by striking ``The Governors shall'' and 
                inserting ``(1) The Governors shall''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(2) The Governors may appoint as the Postmaster General 
        only an individual who has not held a political position at any 
        time during the 4-year period ending on the date on which such 
        individual is so appointed.'';
            (2) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) by striking ``The Governors and the Postmaster 
                General shall'' and inserting ``(1) The Governors and 
                the Postmaster General shall''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(2) The Governors and the Postmaster General may appoint 
        as the Deputy Postmaster General only an individual who has not 
        held a political position at any time during the 4-year period 
        ending on the date on which such individual is so appointed.''; 
        and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(f) While serving as a member of the Board, an individual may 
not--
            ``(1) hold a political position; or
            ``(2) solicit funds for--
                    ``(A) the campaign of a candidate for election for 
                a Federal, State, or local elected office; or
                    ``(B) a Federal, State, or local political party 
                (as defined in the Federal Election Campaign Act of 
                1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.)).
    ``(g) For purposes of this section, an individual holds a political 
position if such individual--
            ``(1) holds Federal, State, or local elected office;
            ``(2) files paperwork to be a candidate for election for a 
        Federal, State, or local elected office; or
            ``(3) is an officer, director, or employee of a Federal, 
        State, or local political party (as defined in subsection 
        (f)(2)(B)).''.
    (c) Severability.--If any provision of this Act, an amendment made 
by this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment to any 
person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of 
this Act, the amendments made by this Act, and the application of the 
provisions of such to any person or circumstance shall not be affected 
thereby.
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