Obama taps Kennedy widow for postal board

President Obama has nominated the widow of former Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) to serve on the U.S. Postal Service’s Board of Governors.

The White House announced Obama’s intention to nominate Vicki Kennedy in a statement Wednesday night. The former Massachusetts senator endorsed Obama in the 2008 presidential primary over Hillary Clinton. 

{mosads}The postal service’s Board of Governors is a bipartisan panel that meets regularly and is tasked with overseeing the letter carrier much as a corporate board oversees a private company.

Her appointment comes as the postal service continues to grapple with multibillion-dollar annual losses and lawmakers debate postal reform legislation that could scale back pension obligations or delivery times. Earlier this week, the USPS said it incurred a net loss of $354 million in the first quarter.

“The Postal Service is doing its part within the bounds of law to right size the organization, and I am very proud of the achievements we have made to reduce costs while significantly growing our package business,” said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick Donahoe in a statement Tuesday. “We cannot return the organization to long-term financial stability without passage of comprehensive postal reform legislation. We appreciate the efforts of the House and Senate oversight committees to make this happen as soon as possible.”