Congressman calls for ‘urgent action’ regarding USPS money woes
Shrewsbury – “Urgent action” is needed, U.S. Rep. James McGovern said Aug. 18, to stop President Donald Trump from “undermining our democracy” with a series of actions designed to hamper the mail-in ballot process during the upcoming presidential election. McGovern was joined by several other speakers at a press conference held outside the USPS Central Massachusetts Processing & Distribution Center in Shrewsbury.
McGovern addressed recent efforts by the president to withhold a $25 billion emergency injection into the U.S. Postal Service. Those monies are necessary, postal officials say, to staff distribution centers and keep sorting machines running during what promises to be a busy few months as more and more Americans choose to mail in their ballots instead of doing so in person. Critics of the president, including McGovern, claim Trump is blocking the measure because he is worried an effective USPS may cause him to lose reelection.
McGovern also called for the resignation of the recently appointed United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a key Trump supporter, who McGovern said is acting as “an accomplice to degrading the postal service standards and delaying mail.”
Also speaking at the event was Central MA American Postal Workers Union President John Flattery who noted that although the Shrewsbury facility regularly processed “hundreds of thousands of pieces of mail” each week, they would be able to handle the influx of anticipated mail-in ballots “without a problem” if they were fully staffed and had enough machines. Recently three of the plant’s 16 machines were removed without then being replaced, he said. There are approximately 450 employees at the Shrewsbury site.
Also speaking was Central West Justice Center Staff Attorney Gina Plata-Nino who noted that many Massachusetts residents rely on the USPS to receive medications, disability checks and Social Security checks. Efforts to delay those important items adversely affected those residents, she said.
McGovern noted that “this is not a partisan rant – the right to vote is sacred.”
“It should not be a controversial idea,” he said of efforts to ensure the USPS had what it needed to run effectively.
He added that he and his House colleagues would be returning to Washington D.C. this weekend to vote on stopping the president’s plan.
During the afternoon of Aug. 18, DeJoy, bowing to pressure from 20 states across the county who had said they would be filing federal lawsuits, announced that all changes being made to the Postal Service would be suspended until after the Nov. 3 election.
