President Bush has announced his intention to nominate George A. Omas chairman of the Postal Rate Commission and Tony Hammond as a commissioner.
Omas, the current vice chairman, would succeed Ed Gleiman as chairman. Gleiman retired in February with three years left on his term, and Hammond would fill the spot on the five-member board left open by Gleiman's retirement.
Omas' term expires Oct. 14, 2006. Before joining the PRC, Omas worked for more than 20 years in the House of Representatives, nearly 18 years for the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service and most recently with the office of the Sergeant-at-Arms.
Hammond is the owner and managing member of T. Hammond Co., Arlington, VA. He held various positions at the Republican National Committee from 1994 to 1999.
The president appoints the commissioners with the advice and consent of the Senate for a term of six years. Their main duties are to allocate costs among the mail classes and to act on mail classification changes. No more than three can be members of the same political party.
Two other commissioners are currently appointed: Dana B. “Danny” Covington, a Republican whose term expires Oct. 14, 2004, and Ruth Y. Goldway, a Democrat whose term expires Nov. 22, 2002. The PRC still has one vacancy.
Bush also has two vacancies to fill on the U.S. Postal Service's Board of Governors. Tirso del Junco's term expired last year, but he is still serving out a one-year grace period. Einar Dhyrkopp's term expires this year.
The board of consists of nine presidential appointees plus the postmaster general and the deputy postmaster general. The president appoints the nine governors with the advice and consent of the Senate. The appointees select a postmaster general, and those 10 select a deputy postmaster general. Each governor is appointed to a nine-year term or to the remainder of an unexpired term.
The administration has hinted that it will fill upcoming board openings with businesspeople.
