WASHINGTON — Protesters gathered in several locations across the Washington metro area Saturday in opposition to the recent changes to the United States Postal Service (USPS).
This as the House held a rare Saturday session to discuss mail delivery options and a discussion to provide emergency funding.
“I mean just things are not going as they should here in the US of A. They're just not,” D.C. resident Terry Anita Jones said.
For Jones, she said it was personal for her to come out and protest outside the Trump International Hotel, the former site of the Old Post Office, as she herself had issues with the postal system.
“I mailed my mortgage payment on the first of August. As of yesterday, they had not received it,” Jones said of the letter she said she mailed to a business across the river in Virginia. “They've been calling, sending me emails, and saying we don't have your payment. I've never missed a payment. Same thing with my credit card. 19 years, never missed the payment, go to the bank, they still haven't received it. I mailed it on the 24th of July. Yesterday is the 21st of August.”
Jones said she is worried about people’s credit scores going down with mail not being delivered.
Another concern some protesters said they had Saturday was how mail issues could affect the 2020 election.
“This is just another step in trying to stop as many people from voting as possible with what's going on with the post office right now.” Tim McCale said.
“This issue the post office is scarier now because of COVID-19. I am afraid for my family and friends to go out and vote in November when they could be voting by mail,” Miguel Tores said.
At a USPS protest in Maryland, Teresa Blair said she had heard about mail issues happening within her Montgomery County community.
“People have not been getting all of their prescription drugs and their mail,” Teresa Blair said. “Even my husband and I realized that's been a slow down just in terms of the amount of mail.”
Recent changes to the U.S. Postal Service include a restriction of postal worker overtime, removing blue mailboxes, and a reduction in the number of large-mail sorting machines.
Newly appointed Postmaster General, a President Donald Trump donor, agreed to halt the removal of collection boxes but said that he won’t reinstall hundreds of mail sorting machines that were removed, adding that they are not needed.
DeJoy is scheduled to testify in front of the House on Monday.
