740
Opinion of the Court
solved his worries about McLean's independence in matters of postal governance, especially patronage, by appointing him to this Court. Id., at 52.) In 1829, President Jackson acknowledged the enhanced status of the Postmaster General by making him a member of the Cabinet, though it was not until 1872 that Congress formally recognized the Post Office Department as an executive department of the Federal Government. Id., at 36. A more complete account of the origins and mission of the postal system is set forth in Postal Service v. Council of Greenburgh Civic Assns., 453 U. S. 114, 120-126 (1981).
Major change came with the Postal Reorganization Act of
1970 (PRA), 39 U. S. C. § 101 et seq. It was adopted to increase the efficiency of the Postal Service and reduce political influences on its operations. Tierney 1-26; Cullinan 5-10. The PRA renames the Post Office Department the United States Postal Service and removes it from the Cabinet to make it "an independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States." 39 U. S. C. § 201. Superintendence over the new Postal Service is the responsibility of a Board of Governors, consisting of 11 members. § 202. Nine governors are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate and are removable only for cause. Ibid. The other two governors are the Postmaster General, who also serves as the chief executive officer of the Postal Service, and who is appointed by the other nine, and the Deputy Postmaster General, who is appointed by the other nine together with the Postmaster General. Ibid.
The PRA creates a second independent establishment, the Postal Rate Commission, to make recommendations on postal rate changes. § 3601. The Commission advises the Board of Governors on rates for all postal services, including both letter carriage and parcel delivery. § 3621. Rates are set by the Board of Governors based on the recommendations of the Commission, and those decisions are in certain
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