President Joe Biden also announced three nominees to fill vacant seats on the Postal Service’s board of governors. Carolyn Maloney indicated that a bill cementing the change was imminent and that it would also grant the agency permission to pursue other pathways toward revenue, like providing banking services, to make up for a decline in first-class mail. During a congressional hearing on the matter, Oversight and Reform Committee chairwoman Rep. In a rare show of bipartisan unity this month, Republicans, Democrats, union advocates, researchers, and the Postmaster General all agreed that the pre-funding requirement should be overturned. Now it appears that there’s widespread bipartisan support to overturn the law, which was backed by the Bush administration during a lame-duck session with the intent of using the extra money from pre-funding to pay down the ballooning national debt. Nearly 90% of the agency’s losses between 20 came from the pre-funding requirement, according to former Postmaster General Megan Brennan.

The burden, which union leaders call “draconian” and which no other governmental agency or private business bears, costs an extra $5 billion per year and has led to consistent revenue losses for the previously profitable and self-funded service. The pressure from the public and the unions made a difference,' said Scott Adams, president of the American Postal Workers Union unit for southern Maine, which represents about 550 postal workers.Over the past decade, union leaders and other advocacy groups have fought to overturn a congressional mandate that required the USPS to pre-fund future retiree health benefits on a 50-year schedule, instead of on a pay-as-you-go basis. Multiple Democrats and union officials welcomed the news, but said they were holding out for proof that Mr DeJoy would take the actions he promised. Union says public pressure led to backdown One in four ballots in 2016 were cast by mail and Mr Trump himself votes that way. 'They'll have to do it again, and nobody wants that.' 'It will end up being a rigged election or they will never come out with an outcome,' Mr Trump said. The President kept up his attack on mail voting, speculating that delayed results could mean that the November 3 election would need to be held a second time. Mr Trump said last week he was against Democratic efforts to include funds for the Postal Service and election infrastructure in coronavirus relief legislation because he wanted to limit mail-in voting during the pandemic. It is expected that many votes for the November election will be submitted by mail. He has faced pressure from multiple tiers of government, with the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives planning a rare Saturday session to pass a bill blocking cuts, and several states preparing lawsuits to block the manoeuvres. Mr DeJoy, a major political donor and ally of Mr Trump, took the Postmaster-General's job in June. Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, praised 'the postmaster's reversal of these policies' but added that the Postal Service was still 'in immediate need of $US25 billion ($34.5 billion) in COVID-related financial relief.'

The legislation is expected to contain provisions to prevent the post office from reducing service levels below what they were in January. 'The House will be moving ahead with our vote this Saturday.' 'This pause only halts a limited number of the postmaster's changes, does not reverse damage already done, and alone is not enough to ensure voters will not be disenfranchised by the President ', Ms Pelosi said in a statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Mr DeJoy's announcement inadequate and said she would push ahead with legislation later this week to aid the Postal Service. 'I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded,' Mr DeJoy said in a statement, saying he was acting to 'avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail'. Mr DeJoy had planned to reduce overtime, put restrictions on extra mail runs, and bring in new mail sorting and delivery policies in an attempt to cut costs. Mr Trump has repeatedly and without evidence claimed that an increase in mail-in ballots would lead to a surge in fraud, though Americans have long voted by mail. Mr DeJoy's announcement came amid rising pressure from critics who accuse Mr Trump of deliberately gutting the already cash-strapped US Postal Service (USPS) in order to slow the handling of mail-in ballots, which could account for as many as half of all votes cast in November's election as the coronavirus pandemic raises fears of crowds.

Usps changes coming