Federal Reports

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.

Performance Audit Report on the Federal Labor Relations Authority’s Compliance with the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 for Fiscal Year 2025

Fiscal Year 2025 Independent Evaluation of the SEC's Implementation of the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014, Report No. 589

Our Objective(s)To perform a quality control review (QCR) of KPMG LLP's management letter related to the audit of the DOT's consolidated financial statements as of and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025. We reviewed KPMG's management letter, dated January 29, 2026, and related documentation.
About This ReportWe contracted with the independent public accounting firm KPMG LLP to audit DOT's consolidated financial statements. KPMG also issued a management letter discussing internal control matters that KPMG was not required to include in its audit report.
What We FoundThe independent auditor, KPMG, found eight internal control matters in DOT's management of operations:

Weakness exists within the Federal Highway Administration grant management system change management process,
Weaknesses exist within the user access application change management process,
Weaknesses in password requirements for the user access application database,
Weaknesses in new user provisioning process for grant management system operating system,
Weaknesses in the frequency of the Office of the Chief Information Officer administrator access semi-annual review,
Weaknesses within the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) general user base review and privileged access review,
Weaknesses in Federal Aid grant accrual assumptions, and
Weaknesses in FTA's review of grant accrual calculations.

Our QCR disclosed no instances in which KPMG did not comply, in all material respects, with U.S. generally accepted Government auditing standards.
RecommendationsWe agree with KPMG's 10 recommendations to help strengthen DOT's information system and business controls.