This fiscal year (FY) appears to be unlike any other. In December, just two months into FY 2016, the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors lost its last remaining presidentially appointed governor when his holdover term expired. The Board, which operates much like a corporate board of directors, is now without any presidentially appointed governors for the first time since the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 created the governing body.

By law, our Office of Inspector General reports to the Governors and to Congress.

Our most recent Semiannual Report to Congress (SARC), which is a record of our work over a six-month period, includes a paper we did that highlights the ramifications of having no presidentially appointed governors. Governance of the U.S. Postal Service noted that by law, only the presidentially appointed governors can conduct certain actions, including authorizing rate and fee changes for postal products, and requesting the Postal Regulatory Commission add, remove, or reclassify product, among other things.

You’ll find the work in our current report indicates that we continue to be driven by our mission of ensuring efficiency, accountability, and integrity in the Postal Service — no matter what is happening around us.

In this report, for the period October 1, 2016 – March 31, 2017, we issued 84 audit reports, management advisories, PARIS risk models, and white papers; the Postal Service accepted 84 percent of our recommendations. We completed 1,394 investigations that led to 345 arrests and nearly $20 million in fines, restitutions, and recoveries, $3 million of which was turned over to USPS.

Many of the audit reports and white papers we released were featured in this blog and via our other social media outlets. Or, the audit projects started with input from you via our Audit Asks site. The reason for this outreach is simple: We want to engage stakeholders through as many channels as possible. Using social media allows us to have something of a two-way conversation. We can inform you of our work and solicit your input as well.

Please take a few minutes to read though the Semiannual Report to Congress, or for a quick overview, take a look at our SARC Fact Sheet, then let us know what you think. You can comment on our web site, or visit our Facebook page or tweet us a message.

Source: USPS Office of Inspector General Blog