Federal Reports

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.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) plans to invest approximately $7 billion to extend and preserve the life of its seven nuclear units over the next 20 years. Selection of suppliers responsible for maintenance or system upgrades within TVA’s nuclear fleet can affect TVA’s ability to maintain generation reliability.  Because of the importance of supplier selections, we evaluated the solicitation and bid evaluation processes for Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN). The objective of our evaluation was to determine if solicitation and bid evaluation processes were performed in accordance with TVA's policies and procedures for electrical, maintenance, and modifications services contracts at WBN. 

We determined that solicitation and bid evaluation processes for two projects implemented between April 11, 2024, and November 30, 2024, were not performed in accordance with TVA policies and procedures.  Specifically, Supply Chain was not involved in the solicitation and bid evaluation processes as required.  During our evaluation, we also identified gaps in the independent estimation process.  We determined that independent estimates were not always developed as required and checklists to support independent estimate development were not always completed in accordance with guidance.