Federal Reports

Background

In June 2023, the U.S. Postal Service authorized the creation of relief supervisor positions in customer service, mail processing, maintenance, and logistics. The intent of these newly created positions is to provide coverage for regular supervisors during their leave and scheduled days off and reduce the reliance on acting supervisors. Relief supervisors are responsible for performing the same job duties and have the same training requirements as regular supervisors. Relief supervisor positions are earned at the facility level using a ratio of one relief supervisor for every five authorized regular supervisors. As of fiscal year (FY) 2025, the Postal Service filled 1,949 of the 2,168 (89.9 percent) authorized relief supervisor positions nationwide.

What We Did

Our objective was to evaluate the establishment of the relief supervisor position and its impact on the workforce. We judgmentally selected 17 Postal Service facilities nationwide based on relief supervisor positions and interviewed headquarters personnel, facility managers, and relief supervisors to understand the position and responsibilities.

What We Found

Overall, we determined the relief supervisor position was implemented successfully to provide coverage for regular supervisors on leave and scheduled days off. We found 31 of 33 (93.9 percent) relief supervisors believed the position was aligned with the job description and were satisfied with the position.

However, we concluded that the Postal Service did not effectively reduce its reliance on acting supervisors when it brought on relief supervisors, as was intended. During FYs 2023 through 2025, facilities with relief supervisors still accounted for more than half of all acting supervisors’ hours used nationwide. This occurred due to lack of effective workhour management, detailing relief supervisors into other roles, and organizational changes. As a result, in FY 2025, we identified $62.7 million in questioned costs due to the increase in total relief supervisor and acting supervisor workhours.

Recommendations and Management’s Comments

We made two recommendations to address the issues identified, and Postal Service management disagreed with both recommendations. We will pursue the two disagreed recommendations through the audit resolution process. Management’s comments and our evaluation are at the end of each finding and recommendation.

Four former Amtrak employees, Kevin Frink, of Willingboro, New Jersey; Dion Jacob, of Brooklyn, New York David Lonergan, of Rockaway Park, New York, and Quinton Johnson of Irvington, New Jersey, were sentenced on January 8, 2026, February 18, 2026, March 4, 2026, and March 31, 2026, respectively, in U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey. Frink was sentenced to 2 years of probation and ordered to pay $460,174 in restitution; Jacob was sentenced to 2 years of probation and ordered to pay $1,315,259 in restitution; and Lonergan was sentenced to 3 years of probation, 4 months of home confinement and ordered to pay $627,801 in restitution; and Johnson was sentenced to 2 years of probation and ordered to pay $141,666 in restitution. According to court documents, Frink, Jacob, Lonergan, and Johnson were given cash kickbacks for allowing health care providers to use their insurance information to fraudulently bill Amtrak’s health care plan for services that were never provided and that were not medically necessary.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Vet Center Inspection Program provides a focused evaluation of aspects of the quality of care delivered at vet centers. This inspection report evaluated three randomly selected vet centers throughout North Atlantic district 1 zone 4: Prince George’s County, Maryland; Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Chesapeake, Virginia.

This OIG inspection focused on four review areas: suicide prevention; consultation, supervision, and training; outreach; and environment of care. The suicide prevention review evaluated vet center staff participation on supporting VA medical facility mental health executive councils and documentation of contacts and outcomes in the high risk suicide flag SharePoint site, which resulted in one recommendation for the Prince George’s County Vet Center. The consultation, supervision, and training review evaluated external clinical consultation, monthly client record reviews, and completion of select trainings. This resulted in two recommendations related to external clinical consultation and training across all three vet centers inspected. The outreach review evaluated outreach plan completion, inclusion of strategic components, and tailoring of outreach activities to eligible individuals, which resulted in one recommendation across all three vet centers inspected. The environment of care review evaluated vet centers’ physical environment and general safety, resulting in five recommendations across all three vet centers inspected. 

The Chief Readjustment Counseling Officer and District Director concurred with the OIG’s nine recommendations. District leaders reviewed requirements and developed plans for participation in VA mental health executive council, external clinical consultation, outreach plans, and emergency and crisis plans with vet center directors. Further, district leaders developed processes to ensure staff complete trainings, and fire extinguisher and automated external defibrillators are inspected and serviced as required.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Vet Center Inspection Program provides a focused evaluation of aspects of the quality of care delivered at vet centers. This inspection report evaluated three randomly selected vet centers throughout North Atlantic district 1 zone 1: New Haven, Connecticut; Sanford, Maine; and Providence, Rhode Island.

This OIG inspection focused on four review areas: suicide prevention; consultation, supervision, and training; outreach; and environment of care. The suicide prevention review evaluated vet center staff participation on supporting VA medical facility mental health executive councils and documentation of contacts and outcomes in the high risk suicide flag SharePoint site, which resulted in one recommendation for the New Haven Vet Center. The consultation, supervision, and training review evaluated external clinical consultation, monthly client record reviews, and completion of select trainings. This resulted in three recommendations related to external clinical consultation and training across all three vet centers inspected. The outreach review evaluated outreach plan completion, inclusion of strategic components, and tailoring of outreach activities to eligible individuals, which resulted in one recommendation across all three vet centers inspected. The environment of care review evaluated vet centers’ physical environment and general safety, resulting in three recommendations across all three vet centers inspected. 

The Chief Readjustment Counseling Officer and District Director concurred with the OIG’s eight recommendations. District leaders reviewed requirements and developed plans for participation in VA mental health executive council, external clinical consultation, outreach plans, and emergency and crisis plans with vet center directors. Further, district leaders developed processes to ensure monthly review of active client records, staff complete trainings, and fire extinguisher and automated external defibrillators are inspected as required.

The report presents key considerations for decision makers when conducting overseas post closure activities, including suggestions on how to increase the closure process’s effectiveness while mitigating risk. 
The insights, lessons learned, and best practices captured in this review are based on the 29 interviews we conducted with Peace Corps staff who had extensive post closure experience. We identified three main areas that the agency should focus on to ensure it identifies and mitigates potential post closure risks, to include: sustaining mission success; protecting institutional reputation; and ensuring operational integrity and efficiency. Our report concludes with a consolidated set of relevant agency policies, procedures, and resource materials to support consistent implementation for future closures.

SEC Information Technology supervisor resigned, and two employees were suspended following investigation into whether they golfed during duty hours without taking leave

The purpose of this memorandum is to notify stakeholders of the decision to cancel the EAC OIG impact evaluation of the HAVA grants awarded to the Commonwealth of Virginia.