Postal Service Weighs Closing Offices, Cutting Services Ahead of 2020 Election

The U.S. Postal Service may be closing a number of offices and cutting services ahead of the 2020 election, according to reports. The mail service is running out of funds as the country positions itself for sweeping mail-in elections in November.

According to MarketWatch, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is positioning USPS “to eliminate overtime for hundreds of thousands of postal workers, potentially causing a delay in mail deliveries.”

Additionally, The Associated Press recently obtained memos from the Postal Service describing the need for an “operational pivot” to compensate for the losses suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s just asinine to think that you can shut something down or throttle it back in terms of the pandemic when basically the lifeline for voting and democracy is going to be in the hands of the Postal Service,” Senator Joe Manchin, D-WV, who has received a number of complaints about USPS cutting offices, told reporters Wednesday, according to MarketWatch.

A USPS spokesperson told MarketWatch that the Postal Service “has experienced over a decade of financial losses, with no end in sight, and we face an impending liquidity crisis,” adding that  “it is critical that the Postal Service take a fresh look at our operations and make necessary adjustments.”

Manchin, along with his Democratic colleagues in Congress, have expressed grave concerns over the financial cuts. Moreover, they’ve pushed to include extra funding for USPS in the coronavirus financial relief bills.

The bill passed in March allows the Treasury Department to lend $10 billion to the Postal Service.