Opinion ID: 600710
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Postal Reorganization Act

Text: 20 The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 marked a dramatic break with the past. Prior to its enactment, the Postmaster General was a member of the President's cabinet, and Congress set postal rates and, through a system of patronage, selected many postal officers and employees. In 1970, however, Congress took itself out of the ratesetting and patronage processes and replaced the Post Office Department, a cabinet agency, with two independent establishment[s] within the executive branch of the Government of the United States, 39 U.S.C. §§ 201, 3601, the United States Postal Service and the Postal Rate Commission. 21 The Postal Service is governed by an eleven-member Board of Governors, which [300 U.S.App.D.C. 50] has broad authority to manage the Postal Service. Nine of its members, the Governors, are appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. They can be removed only for cause. Id. § 202(a). The Governors, in turn, appoint the Postmaster General, while the Governors and the Postmaster General together appoint the Deputy Postmaster General. 39 U.S.C. § 202(c) and (d). This Board has a wide array of general powers, including the power to sue and be sued, to acquire property, to enter into contracts, and to spend money. Id. § 401. Most significant to this case, the Board has the authority to set postage rates and fees and classifications of mail. Id. § 3621. The Postal Rate Commission has five members, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Id. § 3601. Its primary powers are to hold hearings on the Board's requests for rate and classification changes and to issue recommended decisions in response to these requests. Id. §§ 3622, 3624. 22 The Postal Reorganization Act creates a unique and interdependent relationship between these two independent establishments in the executive branch. Although ultimate ratesetting authority resides with the Board, it can exercise that authority only after comprehensive review and recommendation by the Postal Rate Commission. The Act's three-step ratesetting process thus establishes a delicate balance of authority between the Governors and the PRC. As a first step, the Postal Service requests a recommended decision from the PRC. Id. § 3622(a). Second, the PRC, after holding hearings and considering certain statutory factors, makes its recommendation to the Board. Id. §§ 3623(c), 3624. And third, the Board responds to the recommendation in one of four ways. Id. § 3625. First, and most simply, the Board may approve the recommendation. In this case, the rate goes into effect on a date determined by the Board of Governors. Id. § 3625(f). Second, the Board may allow the rate to take effect under protest and seek either reconsideration by the PRC or judicial review. Id. § 3625(c). Third, the Board may reject the recommendation and seek the Commission's reconsideration. Id. § 3625(d). Only after the Commission has submitted a further recommended decision may the Postal Service exercise its fourth option of modifying the recommendation; even then, a modification requires the members' unanimous written approval. Id. 23 At first glance, the most troublesome of these options, and one that is at issue here, is allowance under protest with judicial review. When exercising this option, the Board is at once permitting a decision to go into effect and challenging it in court. On the surface, the Board would seem to be both the decisionmaker and the party aggrieved by the decision. As we discuss below, however, a careful parsing of the statute, reinforced by the Act's legislative history, demonstrates two things. First, in this limited circumstance, Congress has created a sort of passthrough mechanism, by which the Board of Governors is effectively standing aside to permit the recommended decision to take effect, then challenging that decision. Second, Congress intended precisely this dynamic as a means to achieve the overriding policy concern of providing the Postal Service timely revenue increases, without requiring the Board of Governors to abdicate its ratesetting authority. 24 Thus, in analyzing the Board's actions in permitting the rate to go into effect and seeking judicial review, we recognize first that its actions are governed by §§ 3625(c) and 3628. Significantly, judicial review under § 3628 is to be conducted in accordance with chapter 158 of title 28, known as the Hobbs Act, which governs judicial review of the orders of certain federal agencies. Relevant portions of the Hobbs Act, discussed below, spell out the respective rights and responsibilities in these proceedings of the Department of Justice, the agency whose order is under review, and the party challenging the order. 25 The PRA's incorporation of the Hobbs Act is not, of course, the statute's only reference to the conduct of Postal Service litigation. We have already mentioned § 409(d), providing for the Department of Justice's furnishing of the Postal Service's [300 U.S.App.D.C. 51] legal requirements or its consent to the Service's self-representation. This section in turn references 39 U.S.C. § 411: 26 § 411. Cooperation with other Government agencies 27 Executive agencies within the meaning of section 105 of title 5 and the Government Printing Office are authorized to furnish property, both real and personal, and personal and nonpersonal services to the Postal Service, and the Postal Service is authorized to furnish property and services to them. The furnishing of property and services under this section shall be under such terms and conditions, including reimbursability, as the Postal Service and the head of the agency concerned shall deem appropriate. 28 Additionally, two other provisions of § 409 govern Postal Service litigation. Subsections (b) and (c) enumerate those provisions of title 28 that apply in Postal Service litigation. These subsections state, in their entirety: 29 (b) Unless otherwise provided in this title, the provisions of title 28 relating to service of process, venue, and limitations of time for bringing action in suits in which the United States, its officers, or employees are parties, and the rules of procedure adopted under title 28 for suits in which the United States, its officers, or employees are parties, shall apply in like manner to suits in which the Postal Service, its officers, or employees are parties. 30 (c) The provisions of chapter 171 and all other provisions of title 28 relating to tort claims shall apply to tort claims arising out of activities of the Postal Service. 31 39 U.S.C. § 409(b) and (c).