Federal Reports

• The universal service obligation (USO) guarantees all citizens within a country affordable, consistent postal service, regardless of location. However, declining mail volume and market competition have made it harder for postal operators worldwide to sustain the costs of providing the USO.
• To address these challenges, many countries are modifying their USOs by reducing delivery days, slowing service standards, changing requirements for the network of post offices, or reducing the scope of products within the USO. Depending on the country, the authority to change the USO may rest in national law, a government ministry, or a postal regulator.
• The United States’ USO legal framework is unique because there is no government department directly responsible for postal policy or a specific formal process to adjust it. Except for the six-day delivery mandate, postal law defines the USO in broad qualitative terms, which allows the Postal Service discretion to interpret the USO and adjust parameters, such as service standards or retail access, to balance service quality and financial sustainability.
• Should a reevaluation of the United States’ USO framework take place in the future, the experience of other countries highlights the value of assessing user needs and engaging stakeholders to promote an evidence-based, transparent approach to reviewing the USO.

In January 2023, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced that a portion of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Chattanooga Office Complex (COC), which consists of five buildings (Signal Place, Lookout Place, Missionary Ridge (MR), Blue Ridge (BR), and Monteagle Place), was being considered for the site of a new federal courthouse.  In anticipation of a possible move, TVA created a stand-alone project to vacate MR and BR and consolidate (Vacate and Consolidate) into the other three COC buildings.  In March 2024, TVA requested public input on four alternatives identified for the COC as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.  Public input was to inform TVA decision makers about expected environmental consequences related to each alternative.  On February 13, 2025, the TVA Board approved MR and BR for surplus and in July 2025, TVA made the decision to remain in three buildings at the COC.

We determined that TVA’s analysis of the options for the COC could have been improved.  Specifically, (1) TVA did not compare the financial impacts of the four alternatives identified in the National Environmental Policy Act process to determine the best course of action before starting a project, and (2) the economic analysis for the Vacate and Consolidate project was flawed because it did not include all relevant costs and included an inaccurate input that was not reviewed for reasonableness by TVA.  During TVA’s process for evaluating alternatives for the COC, we informed management of our findings.  Subsequently, TVA took interim actions to address the concerns before making a final decision. 

The U.S. AbilityOne Commission Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an investigation in response to an anonymous complaint alleging that a sole source contract was improperly awarded.

OIG contracted an Independent Public Accounting firm to review the Rural Utilities Service’s process for evaluating and prioritizing the level of service provided for its broadband program, as well as how the current mapping software addresses previously identified programming errors.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) conducts minimal secondary inspections on passengers and crew disembarking cruise ships to prevent illicit drugs and contraband from entering the United States.  As a result, CBP may be missing opportunities to interdict these items, which could adversely affect public health and safety.