In the News

SPRINGFIELD — Two days before the U.S. House of Representatives is supposed to reconvene to act on a bill to prevent a reduction of postal services, U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal said cuts in mail delivery are a “deliberate effort” by the Trump administration to interfere with mail-in voting measures prior to the November election.

“This is an effort to disenfranchise millions of members of the American family who simply want to participate, in the coronavirus atmosphere, by voting by mail,” Neal said.

He said as much as 40% of voters will cast ballots by mail nationwide, as more states — including Massachusetts — have embraced voting by mail as an alternative to voting at a polling place.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Tuesday announced he was halting until after the election some operational changes that critics blamed for delays. But postal union representatives said some mail sorting machines and collection boxes have already been removed around the country.

At a press event Thursday outside Springfield’s main post office branch at Main and Liberty streets, Neal said urgent action is needed now to stabilize the Postal Service and prevent disaster.

Surrounded by several current and retired Postal Service employees and union officials, Neal said slowing mail delivery to gum up the works on election day also has a spinoff effect of interfering with e-commerce, and delaying the delivery of social security checks to the elderly and prescription medication to the elderly and veterans, he said.

He called on DeJoy, a Trump fundraiser named to lead the Postal Service earlier this year, to resign.

“It is time for Postmaster DeJoy to go,” Neal said.

Since DeJoy was appointed June 15, he has eliminated employee overtime, reorganized the Postal Service administration, and directed some mail sorting machines to be taken offline. There are reports that, in cities across the country, mail collection boxes are being removed from public spaces.

DeJoy has said the changes were needed to address an operational deficit that has been made worse by the coronavirus, but critics say it is part of a broader move to interfere with mail-in voting, which President Trump frequently rails against.

Neal, one of those critics, said enough is enough.

“At a very time when we ought to be encouraging people to vote, encouraging people to stand up for a basic constitutional right that people have died for, we are witnessing this effort by the Trump administration to discourage people from actually voting,” Neal said

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has reconvened the House from its August break and instructed members to be in Washington for a vote Saturday on the Delivering for America Act.

The bill would prevent the Postal Service from enacting any operational changes that would affect mail delivery before the election. It also calls for $25 billion in emergency funding for the Postal Service.

The amount of money is the same as what was included in the HEROES Act, a $3 trillion relief package approved by the House in May. The bill has been stalled in the Senate in an impasse over funding.

Neal said he is confident the Senate is prepared to act, as members including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are wary of making it into an election issue in November.

“I can assure you the Senate is about to be more aggressive on this on Saturday ... because that legislation is going on on Senator McConnell’s desk,” Neal said.

“I think by calling attention to the inadequacies of the funding, the Senate will be forced to act before the election,” Neal said.

In May, Neal staged a similar event in the same spot to express his support for the Postal Service and he expressed hope that the Senate would act swiftly to pass the HEROES Act.

At the time he said, “Everyone acknowledges the problem even if we have a temporary disagreement on the solutions.”

Politico reported that McConnell, R-Ky., said this week that he hoped the impasse between the House and Senate versions of funding would be resolved soon, but he added, “I can’t tell you with certainty we’re going to reach an agreement.”

In the same interview, McConnell said, “We’re going to make sure that the ability to function going into the election is not adversely affected.”

Michael Harazmus, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Local 46, which represents postal workers in Western Massachusetts, said two sorting machines have been taken offline at the Hartford mail facility, where letter-sized mail for Western Massachusetts is processed for distribution. “That affects the mail in Western Massachusetts,” he said.

Patricia Madamais of Westfield, a retired letter carrier, said what is happening to the Postal Service is appalling.