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 Democratic-led US House of Representatives voted on Saturday to provide the cash-strapped Postal Service with $25 billion and block policy changes that have stirred concerns about mail-in balloting ahead of the November 3 election.

The 257-150 vote sent the legislation dubbed the "Delivering for America Act" on to the Republican-controlled Senate. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement that the Senate would "absolutely not pass" the stand-alone bill.

The White House also strongly opposes the legislation and has said it would recommend that US President Donald Trump veto the measure.

But more than two dozen House Republicans broke ranks to join Democrats in approving the bill, during a rare Saturday session called by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the middle of the congressional August recess.

With mail-in voting expected to surge during the coronavirus pandemic, Trump has alarmed Democrats by repeatedly denouncing mail-in ballots as a possible source of fraud.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy recently suspended cost-cutting measures that have slowed deliveries in recent weeks.

Democrats, who accuse Trump of trying to discourage mail-in balloting to gain an electoral advantage over Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, cast themselves as defenders of a public that relies on the Postal Service for vital deliveries, including prescription drugs.

"The American people do not want anyone messing with the Post Office. They certainly do not want it to be politicized. They just want their mail, they want their medicines and they want their mail-in ballots delivered in a timely way. And that is exactly what our bill does," said Democratic Representative Carolyn Maloney, who authored the legislation.

Maloney also released a Postal Service document showing an 8 percent slowdown in the processing of first class mail, most of it occurring after DeJoy became postmaster in June.

Republican leaders denied that the Postal Service was in any danger and criticized Democrats for moving legislation forward before DeJoy could testify at a House hearing slated for Monday.

Reuters