Photo taken on Aug. 18, 2020 shows the United States Postal Service headquarters in Washington, D.C., the United States. The chief of U.S. Postal Service (USPS) said Tuesday his agency will suspend until after the election a series of cost-cutting reforms that raised concerns from critics about delays in mail delivery and possible disenfranchisement for voters. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

The chief of US Postal Service (USPS) said Tuesday his agency will suspend until after the election a series of cost-cutting reforms that raised concerns from critics about delays in mail delivery and possible disenfranchisement for voters.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has recently been under heightened scrutiny, including calls for testimony from both the House and the Senate, after he launched sweeping organizational changes to cope with the dire financial situation facing the USPS, with measures ranging from a ban on extra trips by postal workers for on-time delivery to crackdowns on overtime pay and shakeup in agency leadership.

"To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded," DeJoy said in a press release. "The Postal Service is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall."

DeJoy also said that the USPS will expand its task force on election mail, and that effective Oct. 1, the agency "will engage standby resources in all areas of our operations, including transportation, to satisfy any unforeseen demand."

In further explanations, the postmaster general said he wants to "assure all Americans" that hours for retail services at USPS will not change, that mail processing equipment "will remain where they are," that no mail processing facilities will be closed, and that "overtime has, and will continue to be, approved as needed."

A former logistics executive appointed by President Donald Trump to head the USPS this summer, DeJoy has found himself in a hard time.

On the one hand, Trump - to whose campaign DeJoy was a megadonor - recently threatened to defund the USPS because of the president's resentment over what he believed was Democrats' intention to use the congressionally-approved money to expand mail-in ballots during the election, a method Trump claimed would cause voting fraud.

For the Democrats, they accused the postmaster general of deliberately slowing mail time and sabotaging the upcoming election, in which a surging number of voters are expected to vote by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"I came to the Postal Service to make changes to secure the success of this organization and its long-term sustainability," DeJoy said in the press release. "I believe significant reforms are essential to that objective, and work toward those reforms will commence after the election," he added, noting that there are some "longstanding operational initiatives" that "predate" his arrival in June.

The Democratic-controlled House and the Republican-controlled Senate both asked DeJoy to testify, scheduling the hearings for Aug. 24 and Aug. 21, respectively.

DeJoy has agreed to participate in the House hearing, according to an announcement Monday by Carolyn Maloney, chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee that will host the event. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called lawmakers back to Washington from the ongoing recess to vote on the Maloney-proposed "Delivering for America Act," which sought to block DeJoy's overhauls.

The Senate hearing will focus on "examining the finances and operations of the United States Postal Service during COVID-19 and upcoming elections," the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs announced Tuesday. The Senate hearing will be held remotely, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying "the Postal Service is going to be just fine" - giving no indication that he was willing to call back senators.

Trump, who last week reversed course on defunding the USPS by saying he would approve the money "through a separate thing" instead of incorporating it into the coronavirus relief bill, took to Twitter on Monday to vent his fury over the scheduling of the House hearing as it coincided with the Republican National Convention, during which Trump will be officially nominated the GOP presidential candidate.

"Why is Congress scheduled to meet (on Post Office) next Monday, during the Republican Convention, rather than now, while the Dems are having their Convention," Trump said. "They are always playing games. GET TOUGH REPUBLICANS!!!"