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Amber James has worked for the U.S. Postal Service for over two decades.

When she learned last week that Louis DeJoy, postmaster general, is working with the Department of Government Efficiency, the new federal agency that oversees government spending, on plans to cut jobs and funding from the USPS budget, “it was one of the worst days in USPS history,” she said.

“It is horrifying,” she said.

James, who works in the vehicle department, managing parts for delivery trucks, said, “I fear that I will lose my job.”

Her concerns are a part of a larger issue: President Donald J. Trump has a plan to take control of the USPS, meaning the agency, which has been independent since 1970, would exist under the executive branch.

“We want to have a Post Office that works well and doesn’t lose massive amounts of money,” Trump told The Associated Press in February. “We’re thinking about doing that. And it’ll be a form of a merger, but it’ll remain the Postal Service, and I think it’ll operate a lot better.”

James was one of dozens of people who attended a protest in front of the USPS on Main Street in Springfield on Thursday, alongside many of her colleagues and management, all of whom are opposing Trump’s plan.

“What the Trump administration is doing is illegal and hostile,” said Dave Bogacz, clerk craft director for the American Postal Workers Union of the Springfield area, while standing in the bed of a pickup truck outside of the post office.

James said one of her biggest worries is that a privatized postal service would mean people who rely on daily deliveries won’t have access to their mail anymore.

“They could pick and choose who to deliver to. What about elderly people? What about rural residents? What will they do?” she said.

In a letter sent to DOGE, which is led in part by Elon Musk, DeJoy asked for the federal department’s help in addressing “big problems” at the $78 billion-a-year agency, which has sometimes struggled in recent years to stay afloat. The agreement also includes the General Services Administration in an effort to help the Postal Service identify and achieve “further efficiencies.”

USPS delivers to 167 million addresses nationwide on a daily basis, said Bogacz. Privatizing the postal service, which employs nearly half a million people nationwide, would not only eliminate jobs, but it also would mean that people would not get mail that they rely on, he said.

“We are a service for the people, not a business for the billionaires,” he said.

The USPS has historically hired with preference to veterans and minorities, touting the value of diversity in its workforce.

One of the protesters, Pat Bagnall, a longtime Springfield resident, said she is opposed to Trump’s plan to change things at USPS. A relative, she said, worked for the USPS for a long time.

“Elderly people and disabled people rely on USPS for their Social Security checks, their medication,” she said. “It’s a service that many are dependent on, especially in rural areas.” She agreed that privatization could end delivery in rural parts of the country.

Bagnall was standing next to a fellow protester, Karen Casavant, of Ludlow.

“I support the union. The USPS should stay a government service,” she said. “Everything will be more expensive when the USPS is privatized, and there will be less congressional oversight.”

In the background, protesters walked up and down Liberty Street, holding their signs and chanting slogans like, “U.S. mail is not for sale.”

Midway through the protest, a man dressed as Musk, wearing a mask of the tech billionaire’s face and a black trench coat that Musk has been seen wearing in several photos, dragged a cardboard Cybertruck behind him and held a chain saw as he made his way to the front of the post office.

The man declined to give his name to the press, insisting that he was “Elon Musk” and was at the protest to bribe supporters of the postal service with $100 bills.

“Do you want a job?” he asked a reporter.

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, visited the protest, as well. On the drizzly afternoon, he said, the postal service’s staff have “the confidence of the citizenry.”

Earlier this week, a U.S. postal worker reported a fire in Springfield’s Forest Park neighborhood while delivering mail.

“The (postal service) provides another set of eyes and ears in neighborhoods. You take care of the shut-ins. They look forward to seeing you,” Neal said. “When they see you, they’re reminded of that security blanket that you’ve provided.”

Of the proposed plan to privatize, Neal said, “This is an offense to the American people.”

“There is no rhyme or reason to threaten to privatize one of America’s most essential and popular services, the United States Postal Service,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.