BALTIMORE — Eighty-one-year-old Louise Martin's blood pressure medicine mail delivery is 10 days overdue to her North Bethesda residence.
"I think it's outrageous, it's absolutely outrageous," Martin, a retired US Health Service Corps officer, said. "This is not just needing some aspirin that you can buy over the counter. People's lives are being threatened."
Maryland's congressional delegation gathered in front of Baltimore's main post office Monday to accuse President Donald Trump's administration of intentionally sabotaging the U.S. Postal Service.
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"That service is hampered by the deliberate slowdown, by the refusal to give overtime, by hijacking mailboxes off of every corner they can find and taking sorting machines out of postal offices," Maryland Rep. Kwiese Mfume (D) said."Shame. Shame. Shame. We are not going to stand for it. And I hope people across this country don't stand for it."
President Trump said he's trying to speed mail up, and said the goal is to have the post office make money. But from empty mailboxes in SE Washington missing prescriptions -- like Martin's -- customers are either angry or mystified.
Baltimore resident Rick Bricher said he thinks politics is at the root of turmoil and delays in the mail system.
"I'm pretty concerned because it sounds like it's going to disenfranchise a lot of voters," David Reif said as he entered the post office to pick up mail.
Martin said she has given up waiting for her medicine. Since she is retired military, she said she went to the pharmacy at Walter Reed to get her prescriptions.
"But what about all the people who don't have health care as good as mine or who live in rural areas?" she asked.
The Maryland delegation is calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to call the Senate back into session to immediately pass legislation to pump $25 billion to USPS, and to force Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to reverse all the changes he has made until the election is over.
