WASHINGTON, D.C. — Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says mail in ballots are a priority for the agency amid uproar about a slow down in service. This follows reported operational changes he made in his first 60 days in the position.

Across the country, people have taken to the streets to voice their outrage for what they describe as a disruption in mail service as a result of the changes DeJoy reportedly made when he took office in June. The changes include eliminating employee overtime and removing mail-sorting machines from postal facilities around the country. Now, DeJoy says he won't close postal processing plants before the election and maintains overtime was never actually cut.

"Senator, we never eliminated overtime," DeJoy told Senate Homeland Security Ranking Member Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) at a hearing held by the committee Friday.

"It's gone down. It's been limited," said Peters, rejecting DeJoy's explanation. 

"Since I've been here, we've spent $700 million dollars on overtime. Overtime runs at a 13 percent rate before I got here, and it runs at a 13 percent rate now," said DeJoy.

Louisville Congressman John Yarmuth (D) says despite congressional republicans dismissing the uproar as based on conspiracy theories, residents in his district are experiencing service issues. He would like to see DeJoy resign. 

"In many cases, people have had to wait ten days, two weeks for their prescriptions. Mail that was supposed to go three miles took eight days. I had no confidence in him from the beginning. It was a ridiculous appointment," said Yarmuth.

Yarmuth says years ago, Congress created an unfair disadvantage for the United States Postal Service.

"One of things that has put the Postal Service in financial difficulty was the decision made by a Republican controlled Congress at the end of 2006 to force it to pay, in advance, its pension obligations. No other agency of government has been required to do that," said Yarmuth.

DeJoy testified he never discussed operational changes with the White House and argues the department is equipped to facilitate vote by mail even without additional funding. He continues to enjoy the support of most congressional republicans who champion legislative reform that would lead to cuts.

"We've got to get to less employees overtime. The easiest way to continue personalized service would be to do it less frequently and frankly people who live twenty miles down a shell road, if you told them you were going to get it twice a week versus six times a week, I think we could live with this," said Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).