Biden nominates two picks to replace members of US Postal Service board

President Biden said Friday that he would not be renominating two Postal Service Board of Governors members, including its chairman, announcing two nominations to take their place.

A White House statement said that Biden is nominating former General Services Administration Administrator Daniel Tangherlini and e-commerce fulfillment start-up executive Derek Kan to fill the two spots. Tangherlini and Kan would be replacing chairman Ron Bloom and John Barger.

Those nominations now await Senate confirmation.

“The Postal Service congratulates Derek Kan and Dan Tangherlini on their nominations by the President to serve as Governors on the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service. We wish them well as they proceed through the United States Senate confirmation process,” the agency said in a statement.

“We thank Chairman Ron Bloom and Governor John Barger for their steady leadership and dedicated service to the Postal Service and the American people,” it continued. “We are grateful for their contributions to the development of the Postal Service’s Delivering for America 10-year plan to achieve financial sustainability and service excellence, and look forward to continuing to work with them as they serve out their terms.”

The Washington Post had reported earlier that the president was set to make an announcement on Friday that Bloom would not be renominated.

The newspaper, who spoke to three people familiar with the matter, reported that it signaled an uncertain future for Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, an ally of Bloom’s who has been viewed less favorably by Democrats and the White House.

Bloom was elected chairman of the Postal Service Board of Governors earlier this year after previously being appointed to the board in 2019 by former President Trump.

Previously, he served as assistant to the president on manufacturing policy under the Obama administration.

Only the Board of Governors has the ability to remove DeJoy from his position, and the decision to not re-nominate Bloom could be a step in the direction toward shoring up enough votes to oust the postmaster general, according to the Post. 

DeJoy has faced calls to leave his post, especially amid concerns last year that issues at the agency could affect the delivery of larger numbers of mail-in ballots, driven in part by the pandemic.  

Biden press secretary Jen Psaki did not directly answer a question in February regarding whether the White House was looking to have the postmaster general replaced but seemed to acknowledge the point. 

“I think the president is certainly familiar with the process,” she said at the time. “He believes the leadership can do better, and we are eager to have the board of governors in place.”

Updated at 11:33 a.m.