US President Donald Trump's appointed Postmaster General has agreed to testify before Congress next week on cuts in service that politicians fear could hamper the postal service's ability to handle a flood of mail-in ballots in November's presidential election.
US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major Trump political donor, agreed to testify on 24 August before a House of Representatives panel investigating whether service changes adopted in recent weeks have slowed mail deliveries, according to the committee, which called his appearance voluntary.
Congressional Democrats have raised concerns that, in a pandemic that is expected to result in about twice as many Americans voting by mail as did so in 2016, cost cuts at the Postal Service could lead to missed or delayed ballots.
They have pointed specifically to reductions in overtime, restrictions on extra mail transportation trips and new mail sorting and delivery policies as changes that threaten to slow mail delivery.
Mr Trump, who has repeatedly and without evidence claimed that mail balloting is vulnerable to fraud, denied trying to undermine the postal service's ability to handle a flood of ballots.
"We want to make it run efficiently, run good," Mr Trump said in an interview with Fox News amid an outcry from Democrats and other critics who accuse him of trying to hamstring the postal service to suppress mail-in voting as he trails Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden in opinion polls.
"We want to make it run for less money, much better, always taking care of our postal workers," the Republican president said, describing the postal service as "one of the disasters of the world".
Voting by mail is not new in the United States, and one in four voters cast ballots that way in 2016.
Mr Trump, who himself plans to cast an absentee ballot by mail in Florida, and many other Republicans have opposed an expansion of mail-in voting to accommodate people concerned about going to the polls to vote in-person due to fears amid the coronavirus pandemic.
He also expressed support for expanded in-person voting including more voting booths, early voting and other efforts, while he reiterated his attacks on mail-in voting.
Last Thursday, Mr Trump said he was opposing Democratic efforts to include funds for the postal service and election infrastructure in coronavirus relief legislation, as he aims to block an expansion in mail-in voting during the pandemic.
In March, Mr Trump said that with mail-in voting at levels that Democrats were seeking "you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again".
The Democratic-led House will meet on Saturday to consider legislation prohibiting changes to postal service levels that were in place on 1 January 2020, said the chamber's No. 2 Democrat, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
Senate Democrats led by Senator Chuck Schumer urged the postal service board of governors to reverse a series of changes adopted by Mr DeJoy that they said have led to mail service delays.
