Federal Reports

We found USPP officers did not violate DOI or USPP use of force policies in an attempted arrest and fatal shooting in Washington, DC.

The Office of the Inspector General performed an audit to determine if the backup and recovery process for operational technology cyber assets at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) natural gas plants were (1) designed in accordance with federal guidance and (2) operating as defined by TVA policy.  We determined TVA Generation’s backup and recovery procedure was designed in accordance with federal guidance for most areas.  However, the (1) procedure did not align with federal guidance for encryption and (2) process was not operating as defined by TVA Generation’s procedure.  Specifically, the National Institute of Standards and Technology recommends cryptographic mechanisms be implemented to prevent unauthorized disclosure and modification of data; however, encryption was not addressed in TVA Generation’s procedure.  Additionally, none of the plants selected for testing had a documented backup and recovery plan as required by procedure.

This report communicates the results of the Fiscal Year 2025 Federal Trade Commission Office of Inspector General review of the FTC’s compliance with the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA) (Public Law 116-117).

Background

The U.S. Postal Service has 50 authorized officer positions, including the postmaster general, deputy postmaster general, and vice presidents. The Postal Service had 48 active officers, including acting officers, as of September 30, 2025. Officers filed 1,011 expense reimbursement requests totaling $1,405,278. In addition, as of the end of fiscal year (FY) 2025, the Postal Service had 13 executive directors who filed 195 reimbursement requests totaling $314,570. Further, the Postal Service hired specially assigned, limited-term contract employees who were not officers, but management elected for their reimbursement requests to receive the same level of review as officers. During FY 2025, the contract employees filed 81 reimbursement requests, totaling $120,075.

What We Did

Our objective was to determine whether Postal Service officers and executive directors complied with policies and procedures regarding travel and representation expense reimbursements. We reviewed a sample of 60 reimbursement requests for officers, including limited-term contract employees, totaling $75,136, and 20 executive directors’ reimbursement requests totaling $28,362 from FY 2025.

What We Found

For the travel and representation expense reimbursements we reviewed, Postal Service officers and executive directors generally followed applicable Postal Service travel policies and included proper support for reimbursement requests. However, we did identify instances of noncompliance where applicable travel policies were not followed and reimbursement requests were not supported, as required. In some cases, the non-compliance related to undocumented policy exceptions. In addition, we noted limited-term contract employees’ reimbursement requests were not always identified for additional review by the Travel and Relocation team.

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements.