Government affairs

Today, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability held a nine-hour markup and advanced several bills that would negatively impact federal employees.

Two bills would directly impact the Postal Service and its employees: the Paycheck Protection Act (H.R. 2174) and the FEHB Protection Act of 2025 (H.R. 2193).

The Paycheck Protection Act, which advanced 23-21, would forbid labor organizations from deducting dues from federal employees’ pay. The bill seeks to restrain union funding and political activities of federal employees and postal workers.

The FEHB Protection Act, which advanced 29-15, would require federal agencies to verify that an employee is eligible to add a family member to their Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) health coverage plan. Federal employees would need to provide documentation to verify the eligibility of family members they wish to add to their health benefits plan. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) would conduct fraud risk assessments, including checking for ineligible individuals enrolled in the FEHB program. This could lead to more stringent checks and potential disenrollment of ineligible members.

“These are messaging bills that would be dead on arrival in the full House,” NALC President Brian Renfroe said. “NALC completely opposes these bills that would negatively affect letter carriers and every federal employee who is a union member.”

NALC does not anticipate these bills to be considered on the House floor and will continue monitoring any developments.