GAO took issue with the Postal Inspection Service's processes for determining the size and location of its postal inspector and postal police workforce. Image: Photo Spirit/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe GAO has called for better workforce planning at two components of the Energy Department and the U.S. Postal Service, raising similar issues at both and reflecting findings of studies of other agencies in recent years.
In one, the GAO said the National Nuclear Security Administration recognizes that “it needs additional federal staff to perform its missions, but these staffing levels have not been fully incorporated into the budget requests for the agency . . . This is, among other reasons, because, according to agency officials, NNSA has not fully integrated detailed workforce planning into its budget requests.”
The agency of about 1,800 employees is about 200 positions below its target and while it has taken actions to address its recruitment and retention challenges—such as by increasing outreach and offering incentives—it “has not regularly assessed the outcomes” of those actions, the GAO said.
GAO meanwhile said the Postal Inspection Service “has not fully documented its processes for determining the size and location of its postal inspector and postal police workforce” and has not conducted an assessment since 2011.
“Officials said they are planning to conduct a new security force assessment, but they could not provide GAO the time frames for doing so. As such, it is unclear how long the Inspection Service will rely on outdated information to determine how to align its postal police workforce with current security needs,” it said.
A bipartisan bill (S-4356) was recently offered in Congress in response to crime against U.S. Postal Service employees and the agency in general, including provisions to require every U.S. Attorney’s office to designate an individual to coordinate and supervise the investigation and prosecution of alleged offenses.
The USPS, its inspector general’s office, the Postal Inspection Service and postal unions have been highlighting the issue of crimes in recent years, citing robberies—sometimes armed—of mail carriers and theft of keys to streetside mailboxes, apartment panels and cluster boxes. An IG report last year said the inspection service logged more than 2,000 assaults or robberies of carriers over 2020-2022, more than double the prior rate.
The GAO said that both agencies agreed with its recommendations to address those issues.
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