Inspectors General

This report compares certain activities of the Postal Inspector General (IG) with the activities of IGs in other federal agencies. It is important to note that the Postal IG differs from other IGs by serving in a dual capacity: It performs audits and other reviews as well as serves at the Chief Postal Inspector responsible for the enforcement of postal laws throughout the United States. GAO compares the Postal IG with four other IGs--Justice, Treasury, Agriculture, and Labor--with respect to audit activities over their agencies' law enforcement operations and the results of peer reviews over their audit operations. GAO also compares the Postal IG's policies and procedures to Office of Management and Budget guidance on the resolution of audit recommendations.

GAO found that the: (1) Postal IG cannot conduct audits of the Postal Service's law enforcement operations in accordance with required auditing standards because it is also the Chief Postal Inspector and therefore not organizationally independent of the law enforcement operations; (2) Postal IG performs internal quality reviews of Postal law enforcement operations; (3) peer review results of Postal IG audit activities are similar to those of other IG; and (4) Postal IG policies and procedures on audit resolution are consistent with guidance in OMB Circular A-50.