Members of the United States House of Representatives, a majority of which are Democrats, will vote to allocate $25 billion package to the United States Postal Service (USPS) on Saturday

The legislation, if passed, will also ban operational charges that slow down the mail delivery. The measure has been introduced by Democratic leaders to counter the changes made at the United States postal service by the Donald Trump administration. 

Though there are reports that the legislation will get a green signal in the House, it will be rejected in a Republican senate.  

The USPS and postsmaster general Louis DeJoy, a known Republican and Trump’s ally, have been at the center of several controversies. With the US going to polls on November 3, a significant portion of the American population has decided to vote by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a CNN report, 34% of registered voters have said that they preferred to vote by mail. 53% of US Democratic presidential candidate Biden supporters stated voting by mail as their preferred option. However, 66% of Trump voters have stated that they preferred voting in person.

This has led to a bifurcation in the US, with Republicans along with President Trump tweeting against mail-in voting and spreading information of fraud that occurs from the process. Similarly, Democrats have urged their supporters to request absentee ballots so people do not have to step out of their houses, and have encouraged mail-in voting.

DeJoy testified before a Republican senate on Friday and said that it was the priority of the postal service to deliver the nation’s election mail securely and on time. During his testimony, he stated that while there were delays due to staffing shortages, he assured the Senate that cost-cutting measures implemented by him would not affect the election outcome.

He also stated that he was “extremely highly confident” that all mail-in votes would be delivered as well as counted on time.

He also added that the USPS would not need a Federal bail-out to be able to deliver mail on election day.

The Democrats, however, have accused the postmaster general of undermining one of America’s oldest institutions. 

Earlier, postal service workers across the country raised alarm over DeJoy’s proposed changes since he took office in June. They had stated that the institution had cut on overtime and limited post office hours, according to a CNN report, thereby increasing the wait time for the delivery of a mail.

While the postmaster general said that no changes were made pertaining to policies of election mail, Democrats and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden have cried foul stating ‘assault on democracy.’