Federal Reports

Our office is currently conducting three audits of crime prevention and eligibility determinations at Public Housing Authorities (PHA) in Washington, DC; Chicago; and Los Angeles.  The objective of our audits is to (1) determine whether the Authority complied with HUD’s and its own requirements for verifying eligibility of individuals for HUD-assisted housing based on criminal activity, citizenship, and immigration status, and (2) evaluate the Authority’s practices for preventing and addressing criminal activity.

While the audits remain ongoing, this memorandum provides some of the initial results we believe could result in ineligible tenants participating in HUD’s public housing and voucher programs. We have also made some recommendations for HUD to implement regulatory and procedural changes to improve the program effectiveness in ensuring safe communities and assistance provided to only eligible participants.

The U.S. Postal Service maintains an unrivaled presence in American life, utilizing more than 33,000 retail locations and a workforce of over 640,000 employees to reach every home and business six days a week. While USPS’s primary mission is mail and package delivery, it also manages a portfolio of nonpostal government services that generated $387 million in revenue during fiscal year (FY) 2025. However, this revenue stream is heavily dependent on passport services — with passport processing accounting for approximately 80 percent of total earnings — and all active partnerships remain exclusively at the federal level.

The landscape for providing government services shifted significantly with the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, which gave USPS the authority to partner with state, local, and tribal governments for non-commercial public services. Despite this legal green light and the Postal Service’s Delivering for America plan’s goal of becoming a national “government storefront,” the organization has not yet established a formal strategy or initiated outreach to explore these new non-federal opportunities.

USPS OIG discussions with state and federal officials highlight the untapped potential of new government partnerships, particularly in rural and underserved areas where the post office often serves as a primary civic hub. Potential growth is evident in providing in-person identity verification for social benefit programs like SNAP or Medicaid, and in streamlining high-assurance biometric services, such as fingerprinting for state professional licensing. Facilities could also transform into digital access points by hosting DMV or IRS kiosks in “service deserts” where residents currently travel long distances for simple renewals or tax assistance. Additionally, USPS could lease rooftop space for 5G and broadband infrastructure to help bridge the digital divide in the thousands of underserved counties it already serves.

Future possibilities also include equipping the delivery fleet with sensors for passive data collection on air quality and road conditions, and leveraging the last-mile network to report infrastructure failures during national disasters. To turn these concepts into reality, the Postal Service could look toward international peers in Australia, France, and Italy, which have built successful government service portfolios through proactive sales teams and centralized management units. These operators thrive by standardizing their offerings to lower technical costs and using market intelligence to target areas where private competition is absent.

Currently, the Postal Service’s approach to government partnerships remains largely reactive and fragmented across multiple departments. To capitalize on its vast infrastructure and the interest expressed by state agencies, the OIG recommends postal leadership develop a unified strategic roadmap. This plan would outline the steps necessary to identify, evaluate, and prioritize expansion opportunities across all levels of government, finally moving the organization beyond case-by-case federal agreements toward its vision of a modern, multi-level government storefront.