Protestants angry over the recent actions of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy
Louis DeJoyBipartisan Group of Secretary of State Request Meeting with Postmaster General DeJoy Postmaster General Acknowledges ‘Unintended Consequences’ of Restructuring Tester Requests Postmaster General’s Replies on Mailbox Removal Reports MORE staged a demonstration outside his home in Washington, DC, on Saturday, calling for support for the US Postal Service (USPS).
Led by activist group Shut Down DC, protesters gathered at Kalorama Park in Adams Morgan and marched toward DeJoy’s house in northwest DC, eventually stopping outside the office building to “wake up” the post office.
Protesters were seen holding signs declaring support for the Postal Service and providing protest material resembling postal messages.
In the morning we are there @USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s house to give him an alarm. We need the postal service to #DeliverDemocracy this fall. Stop the attack on our post! #USPSisEssential # USPS2020VOTE https://t.co/a8KmFt5hIU
– ShutDownDC (@ShutDown_DC) August 15, 2020
Protesters make their way to the Postmaster General’s house for what they call an ‘alarm clock’ pic.twitter.com/swK0CEboPv
– Kolbie Satterfield (@KolbieReports) August 15, 2020
The USPS did not immediately return The Hill’s request for comment on the demonstration.
DeJoy, a former CEO for supply chain and major donor to President Trump
Donald John TrumpUPS, FedEx shuts down talks to deal with post-in vote, warns of ‘major’ issues: reports GOP Georgia’s controversial candidate attempts to distance himself from QAnon Trump orders TikTok parent company to sell US assets within 90 days MORE and other Republicans, was appointed to the post of postmaster-general at the end of May. In early August, he announced a widespread restructuring of the Postal Service, which resulted in more than 20 postal executives being re-assigned or expelled.
While DeJoy said the changes were necessary, he acknowledged that they had “unintended consequences” to USPS operations.
The diminished service capacity of the nation’s postal service has recently come to the fore as tensions around the November general election escalate. Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Democratic lawmakers at every level have called for expanded post-in-vote voting.
It was also reported that DeJoy had been ordered to launch 671 USPS letter sorting machines. These machines play an enormous role in the time delivery of mail, as one machine can sort 35,000 letters per hour.
In addition, several states have received notifications from the Postal Service warning them that it may not process the expected influx of mail-in ballots in November.
The USPS inspector general has plans to monitor the structural changes that DeJoy is sanctioning, a representative said Friday.
“We are receiving a congressional request and are doing a body of work to address the concerns,” said Agapi Doulaveris, a spokeswoman for the Inspector General’s office, The Hill.
Democrats have proposed $ 25 billion in additional funding for the USPS in the latest Congo virus stimulus package.
Trump on Thursday sent mixed signals as to whether he supported the funding. This morning, he said he would not support the money because it would expand Democrats’ mail-in-vote in November, something Trump has repeatedly claimed will lead to rampant voter fraud. He later said he would support the funding, but was still healthy against Democrats’ efforts to expand mail-voting.
On Friday, Trump said he would accept money for USPS as part of the coronavirus delivery package, but only if Democrats made concessions on certain White House priorities.
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