Republican Sen. Rick Scott (Florida) shot down Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-New York) attempt to bring a bipartisan bill to alleviate billions of dollars of debt for the United States Postal Service (USPS) to a swift vote on Monday.
The Postal Service Reform Act, which the House passed last week, gives the USPS’s finances much-needed reforms, forgiving $57 billionOver $200 billion in liabilities. The bill eliminates the requirement that the agency prepay Medicare costs for employees decades prior to their retirement, which has led to the agency being in debt for many years.
Schumer asked that the Senate bring the legislationUnanimous consent was obtained to bring a small amendment to correct a clerical mistake in the bill to the floor. Scott’s objection to the procedure will cause delays, which is “regrettable,” Schumer said.
“Even though this will delay the bill, we will pass it. We will have to just go through this elaborate process, the old fashioned and often discredited rules of the Senate that the senator from Florida’s employing,” Schumer said. “But we will pass this bill because America needs it.”
Because Scott opposed unanimous consent to correct the error, the bill could be rescheduled for a few more weeks. As the Washington Post’s Jacob Bogage pointed outThe easiest way for the bill to be passed would be to send the bill back to Congress to correct the error, and then to the Senate. This would delay the process until at least March.
Scott claimed that he supports this bill, but that it should be passed slower through the Senate. In a press release on Monday, however, he said that he believes the provision to help dig the USPS out of debt would supposedly harm Medicare – although no other agency is required to pay Medicare decades in advance like the USPS is.
Scott is actually likely to try to keep the Postal Service indebted as a way of moving the Postal Service forward. larger conservative goalIt is possible to defund the agency and privatize it. GOP lawmakers have tried to delegitimize USPS for years in an effort to cast doubt on the mail-in voting system that Republicans claim helps Democrats win elections. Scott was actually present in the 2020 election. introduced legislationThat would have effectively invalidated large amounts of mail-in votes in future election.
However, Scott’s delay may end up frustrating both Republicans and Democrats alike. The House passed the bill on a broad bipartisan basis with a 342 vote margin to 92 vote margin. GOP members view the legislation as an endorsement of conservative Postmaster Louis DeJoy’s 10-year plan to slow service and increase costs for the agency, which has garnered Opposition fierceFrom Democrats and the Public.
Still, the bill’s reforms are vital for the long-term health of the agency, Democrats have said. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, a Democratic from New York, introduced the bill and praised its passage last week in the House. “These reforms ensure the Postal Service continues as an independently operated organization that Americans can continue to rely on for the years to come,” she said.
The bill has the support at least 14 Republican senatorsIt is likely to have enough votes in the Senate to pass it when it comes up for a vote.
