VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Recent cost-cutting operational changes at the United States Postal Service have resulted in widespread delays in mail delivery in Hampton Roads and across the country.
US Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) is demanding change.
"Deliver the mail on time," he said Thursday. "Don't mess with it."
One day after the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, Warner demanded answers. He said his office has received complaints from more than 11,000 Virginia residents about DeJoy's modifications to mail processing practices.
Warner worries they could delay election mail, disenfranchise voters, and harm ordinary citizens who depend on timely mail delivery and pickup.
"We need to pass legislation that will guarantee that the Postmaster General doesn't mess with the Postal Service any further, during the pandemic, during election season, and the changes he's made in terms of taking out hundreds of sorting machines, that those machines get returned," he said.
At a news conference outside the at the Ryan Keith Cox Post Office, American Postal Workers Union Local 262 President Victor Fields said he's seen the changes at the Mail Processing and Distribution Center on Church Street in Norfolk.
"We currently have three machines that are offline," he said. "The power drop lines have been cut from those machines. Two of the machines are just sitting there idle. One machine was actually starting to be dismantled, but at this point, they actually stopped it the week before last."
American Postal Workers Union Local 1518 President Janice Nembhard-McLean said the changes are making it hard to deliver the mail.
"The changes that are being made will only undermine the Postal Service's ability to fulfill its mission, drive away revenue, and the public trust will be undermined," she said.
Virginia Beach resident Lourdes DeLeon said the changes have delayed the delivery of critical prescription medications for her organ transplant patient husband, Nelson, who is also a military veteran.
"Cutting back on the US Postal Service resources, such as sorting machines, manpower, funding, is not only counter-productive and harmful, but also dangerous," she said
The Democrat-controlled House has already passed a $25 billion Post Office bill by a more than 100-vote margin, with 26 Republicans crossing over to support it. But Warner said he doubts that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will allow a floor vote in the Republican-led Senate.