Donald Trump's postmaster general halts cuts amid outcry over mail-in voting

The US postmaster general on Tuesday night said he was suspending controversial cuts until after the presidential election following allegations from Democrats that the vote was being manipulated in favour of Donald Trump. Louis DeJoy, who has donated more than $2 million to Mr Trump and the Republican party since 2016, had been introducing reductions in service and overtime, and removing mail sorting machines and collection boxes, as he sought to overhaul the loss-making Postal Service . It had caused a political firestorm with postal unions across the country warning they would be unable to cope with an expected surge in mail-in voting due to the coronavirus pandemic. Democrats claimed the White House was attempting to sabotage the postal service to undermine the legitimacy of the election and suppress the vote. Mr Trump has denied trying to slow down postal voting. Mr DeJoy's reversal came after Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat speaker of the House of Representatives, called it back into session to address the issues at the post office. He has been called to testify before committees in the House and the Senate within days, and there have been protests outside his house in Washington. Mrs Pelosi said: "We have to save the post office from the president now." More than 20 US states had also announced they would be suing to stop the cuts. In a statement Mr DeJoy said: "To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded. "The Postal Service is ready to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives." Planned cuts had included taking offline 671 mail-sorting machines, about 10 per cent of the national total. Mail-in ballots could account for as many as half of all votes cast in November's election. Mr Trump has opposed a request from Democrats for $25 billion in emergency aid to the Postal Service. The president has also said widespread mail-in voting will be a "disaster". He said: "You can't have millions and millions of ballots sent all over the place, sent to people that are dead, sent to dogs, cats, sent everywhere." Mr Trump said delayed results could mean that the Nov. 3 election would need to be held a second time. He said: "They'll have to do it again, and nobody wants that." It came as the senate intelligence committee released a 996-page report concluding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, and meddling was ordered by Vladimir Putin. The report also said the FBI gave "unjustified credence" to allegations in a dossier compiled by former MI6 officer Christopher Steele when investigating Mr Trump's campaign. "Within the FBI, the dossier was given a veneer of credibility by lax procedures and layered misunderstandings," the report said.