Fiscal Year 2025 Officers’ and Executive Directors’ Travel and Representation Expenses
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.
Recommendations and Management’s Comments
We made four recommendations to address the issues identified in the report. Postal Service management agreed with three recommendations and disagreed with one. Management’s comments and our evaluation are at the end of each finding and recommendation. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General considers management’s comments responsive to recommendations 1, 3, and 4 as corrective actions should resolve the issues identified. We will work with management on recommendation 2 through the audit resolution process.