Thursday, July 3, 2025
Reconciliation bill heads to president’s desk following House passage; NALC defeats pressing threats to letter carriers
Today, in a party-line 218-214 vote, the House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1). The bill, which originated in the House in May, returned to the chamber after being significantly altered and passed in the Senate on Tuesday. The bill now heads to President Trump's desk for his signature.
Of particular note to letter carriers, the final package was stripped of any provision that would negatively impact letter carriers, our bargaining rights, and the postal network.
In the last two months of congressional consideration, many direct threats were proposed. These included increasing Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) contribution rates as high as 15.6 percent, calculating annuities based on the high-5 average salary instead of the current high-3, eliminating the FERS Special Annuity Supplement, forcing new federal hires to choose between at-will employment or an increased FERS contribution, imposing a fee for Merit Systems Protection Board Claims and Appeals, taking back unspent funds designated for USPS electric vehicles (EVs) and requiring the agency to sell all its EVs and associated infrastructure, and attacks on other federal employees’ collective bargaining rights.
Ultimately, NALC successfully got all threats directly targeting letter carriers removed.
"Letter carriers' activism and NALC's strong bipartisan relationships helped us defeat devastating provisions for current and future letter carriers,” NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said. “We successfully delivered a powerful message to Capitol Hill. When lawmakers come after our 295,000 members’ jobs, retirements and futures, we say, 'Hell no!'"
Overall, H.R. 1 claims to cut government spending. However, it allocates billions of dollars for border security, immigration enforcement, and defense measures and makes permanent President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts while extending corporate tax breaks. All the while, the measure limits eligibility and funding for Medicaid, student loan repayments, and clean energy tax credits. The bill is estimated to increase the deficit by $3.3 trillion over 10 years and cost $507.6 billion over the same time.
“While the White House and some in Congress may claim victory following today’s passage, the real victory is NALC fending off innumerable attacks on our retirement benefits and the postal vehicles we desperately need in a massive bill that guts working families,” Renfroe said. “This legislation prioritizes corporations and the wealthiest Americans, instead of the workers who keep this country running.
"I am proud that NALC members came together and fought like hell to defend what we’ve earned, deserve and were promised. Unfortunately, this process is expected to happen again later this year for the next fiscal year. NALC members are ready to fight like hell, just as we do every day to protect each other."