WASHINGTON — As concerns and issues with the United States Postal Service led to a protest outside the home of the postmaster general on Saturday, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-Wash., D.C.) called for billions of dollars in funding to be passed to help the beleaguered mail agency.
Hours after dozens of protesters staged a "noise demonstration" Saturday morning outside of United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's home in Northwest D.C., Delegate Norton spoke to WUSA9 about the numerous complaints she claims to have received from constituents experiencing long delays with mail.
"This is an emergency," she said. "I can’t deal with the delay in mail that may come to constituents. Some of it is their paychecks. Some of it is their medicines.”
Concerns erupted this week when it became known that the USPS recently sent letters of warning to 46 states, including Maryland, Virginia and DC, indicating that it could not guarantee all mail-in ballots cast for the November election would arrive in time to be counted.
The issues with mail-in ballots came after weeks of mail delays during the pandemic.
On Saturday, Rep. Norton pointed at United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major President Donald Trump donor who was appointed to the role earlier this year, for the problems.
"He has just gotten there and abruptly we began to see these changes," she said. "He has embarked on a deliberate effort to sabotage the Postal Service. This plays into what Trump wants. He does not want mail-in voting to work.”
However, at least one United States Postal Service worker did not share the same feelings.
An electronic technician who works at a DMV post office and asked to remain anonymous due to his employment with USPS said issues with the Postal Service dated back well before DeJoy filled his position.
"The reports about processing machines being taken out is not new to anyone working at the plants," the man said, focusing on the reports of hundreds of processing machines being decommissioned around the country. "The mail volume is tracked and is predictable enough to make changes like moving a machine to another facility or disposing of older machines to make room for more efficient machines or more efficient floor layout."
"The point is that the processes being scrutinized are normal and have been for probably the last 20 years," he added. "They are fiscally responsible and necessary to remain financially stable."
With the USPS continuing to deal with the issues and with Election Day only getting closer, Delegate Norton said she would keep pushing Congress to pass billions of dollars in funding for the Postal Service.
"I’m worried they’ll run out of money before we can get any bill through the House and Senate," she said. "We’ve got to get that money out.”