§3601. Establishment

(a) The Postal Rate Commission is an independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States. The Commission is composed of 5 Commissioners, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Commissioners shall be chosen on the basis of their professional qualifications and may be removed by the President only for cause. Not more than 3 of the Commissioners may be adherents of the same political party.

(b) A Commissioner may continue to serve after the expiration of his term until his successor has qualified, except that a Commissioner may not so continue to serve for more than 1 year after the date upon which his term otherwise would expire under section 3602 of this title.

(c) One of the Commissioners shall be designated as Chairman by, and shall serve in the position of Chairman at the pleasure of, the President.

(d) The Commissioners shall by majority vote designate a Vice Chairman of the Commission. The Vice Chairman shall act as Chairman of the Commission in the absence of the Chairman.

( Pub. L. 91–375, Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 759 ; Pub. L. 94–421, §3(a), Sept. 24, 1976, 90 Stat. 1304 ; Pub. L. 103–123, title VII, §708(c), Oct. 28, 1993, 107 Stat. 1273 .)

Amendments

1993-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–123 substituted "consent" for "concent".

1976-Pub. L. 94–421 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), required that appointments by the President be subject to Senate confirmation, substituted provision permitting the President to remove commissioners for cause for provision which required a Civil Service Commission hearing for removal, and added subsecs. (b) to (d).

Effective Date

Subchapter effective Aug. 12, 1970, see section 15(a) of Pub. L. 91–375, set out as a note preceding section 101 of this title.

Postal Rate Commissioner Holding Office on September 24, 1976

Section 3(b) of Pub. L. 94–421 provided that: "The provisions of section 3601(a) of title 39, United States Code, as amended by subsection (a) of this section, shall not apply with respect to any Commissioner of the Postal Rate Commission holding office on the date of the enactment of this Act [Sept. 24, 1976], except that such provisions shall apply to any appointment of such a Commissioner occurring after the date of the enactment of this Act."