WASHINGTON — Protesters in D.C. continued to voice their frustration with the current state of the U.S. Postal Service on Sunday by gathering outside of USPS headquarters.
This comes as concerns become serious with the November election nearing and Americans already experiencing a slower mail service.
Some residents in Southeast D.C. have been missing mail for weeks, including checks and medications.
“People are relying more and more on the mail for medicine, they don't want to go out to the pharmacy as frequently as they used to, and so it's totally outrageous and potentially dangerous for people to be the victims of this slowdown,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said.
Sunday morning it was announced that the House Oversight and Reform Committee wants to hear from the new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the chair of the Postal Service board of governors.
The emergency oversight hearing is scheduled for Aug. 24.
This comes as some democrats continue to accuse DeJoy of working with the president to sabotage mail-in voting.
"The postmaster general and top Postal Service leadership must answer to the Congress and the American people as to why they are pushing these dangerous new policies that threaten to silence the voices of millions just months before the election," congressional Democrats said in a statement announcing the hearing.
Sen. Van Hollen said he wishes the Senate would also schedule an oversight hearing. They are currently on a summer recess.
“We’ve got to get sworn testimony. People need to be put under oath and let's get to the bottom of what's happening,” Van Hollen said.
RELATED: Protesters gather outside of USPS Postmaster General's home in DC amid voter suppression allegations
President Donald Trump has repeated unsupported claims that mail in voting will lead to fraud, despite requesting his own mail-in ballot this week, but on Sunday there was a step back from the President’s administration.
The President’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on CNN’s State of the Union that the President would support funding the postal service.
“Let's put it with small business reform in terms of the PPP and extending that. Let's get that. Will the president sign that? Yes, he'll sign that. And I'm certain the other is ten to be or twenty-five billion or something in between,” Meadows said.
“Now I think they recognize that Americans regardless of political party want the mail delivered on time, it really doesn't matter what party you belong to if your medicine is late that's harmful,” Van Hollen said. “And if you want to cast a ballot, regardless of what political party you belong to you should be able to cast a ballot and know that it will be delivered so that your vote will count.”
Despite confusion swirling over the election, D.C. president of the League of Women’s Voters Kathy Chrion said there is no excuse not to vote.
“It can be overwhelming and that's why I think vote411.org is really a trusted source,” Chiron said. “We know in the last election there were 100 million registered voters who did not vote in 2016, actually 37 million of them were women. And we're hoping, obviously not to have that many again who do not vote.”
