Senate Democrats are seeking to amend a U.S. Postal Service reform bill to minimize potentially closing mail offices, while Senate Republicans want to tack on amendments that would curtail collective bargaining rights for union mail service employees and reduce costs.
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Harry Mason ReidSenate heads home to campaign after deal on Trump nominees GOP has always been aggressive in trying to weaponize the system of judicial nominations Republicans come full circle with Supreme Court battle to the end MORE (D-Nev.) announced a compromise over which amendments the chamber would consider attaching to S.1789, the 21st Century Postal Service Act. The agreement, to vote on 39 amendments from both Republicans and Democrats, came after Reid used a procedural move to stop Sen. Rand Paul
Randal (Rand) Howard PaulNoisy democracy, or rude people behaving like children? Lawmakers, Wall Street shrug off Trump's escalating Fed attacks Five things to watch for in deteriorating US-Saudi relations MORE (R-Ky.) from adding an amendment that would have cut off American aid to Egypt. Reid said the amendment was too broad.
The 39 amendments that the Senate will vote on Tuesday are all related in some way to Postal Service reform. For the most part, Democrats are submitting amendments that would make it harder to close post offices in order to save the mail service, while Republicans are proposing a range of amendments aimed at cutting mail service costs and curtailing rights for unionized employees.
For example, Sen. Claire McCaskill
Claire Conner McCaskillGOP Senate candidate: Kavanaugh 'debacle' 'hugely motivating' to Missouri voters Democrats hold fading odds of winning Senate this November Cornyn: 'All the money in the world' won't help O'Rourke win Texas MORE (D-Mo.) is proposing an amendment that would "prohibit the closing of a rural post office unless certain conditions are met and to establish a moratorium on the closing of rural post offices." Similarly, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin
Richard (Dick) Joseph DurbinDurbin opposes Saudi arms sale over missing journalist Noisy democracy, or rude people behaving like children? Kavanaugh tensions linger after bitter fight MORE (D-Ill.) is offering an amendment that keeps "the Postal Service from closing, consolidating, or reducing the workforce of certain postal facilities." Sen. Charles Schumer
Charles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerFive takeaways from the final Tennessee Senate debate Schumer rips Trump 'Medicare for all' op-ed as 'smears and sabotage' GOP senator suspects Schumer of being behind release of Ford letter MORE (D-N.Y.), the top messaging Democrat in the chamber, has an amendment meant to "maintain all current door delivery point services." Meanwhile, Paul is offering a number of amendments to curtail union bargaining rights for mail service employees. For example, one amendment prohibits employees "from engaging in collective bargaining." Paul is also proposing an amendment that closes "post offices in the Capitol Complex." Another, also sponsored by Paul, makes the mail service "take into consideration the impact of regulations when developing a profitability plan."
Sen. Jim DeMint is also offering an amendment that protects "postal workers with respect to their right not to subsidize union nonrepresentational activities." Sen. Tom Coburn
Thomas (Tom) Allen CoburnLive coverage: Donnelly, Braun clash in Indiana debate The Hill's Morning Report — How will the Kavanaugh saga impact the midterms? Congress must use bipartisan oversight as the gold standard MORE's (R-Okla.) amendment would let the service "close unprofitable office facilities."
Both Senate Republicans and their Democratic counterparts spent the last week or so debating the postal bill. Both sides argued strongly in support of reforming the service so that it could avoid going broke, but the amendments to which the chamber agreed suggest two different approaches to how the service should be saved.
