IG reports that USPS is slow to identify underutilized spaces
The USPS inspector general’s office found the agency hasn’t collected space utilization data for more than 60% of its properties.
Michele Sandiford
December 1, 2025 9:35 am
< a min read
- Federal agencies are trying to eliminate underutilized space in their buildings. But a watchdog report found the Postal Service generally isn’t asking those same questions. The USPS inspector general’s office found the agency hasn’t collected space utilization data for more than 60% of its properties. USPS operates more than 34,000 properties across the country. The IG’s office said that by not collecting this data, the agency missed out on an opportunity to save nearly $15 million.
- The Trump administration is trying to ease concerns from federal managers who are worried about pushback against new employee performance standards. The Office of Personnel Management said there is an “extremely limited scope” for which managers would be personally liable when disciplining poor-performing employees. Most of the time, agencies themselves are held accountable for any performance-based actions. OPM’s clarification comes as the administration seeks to limit how many feds can be rated top performers and quickly discipline those deemed poor performers.
- As digital surveillance of federal employees becomes more widespread, the Government Accountability Office is alerting agencies to both positive and negative impacts. GAO said, for example, that monitoring employees remotely may help improve agency operations. But at the same time, there are potential consequences of watching employees’ work that closely. Increasing digital surveillance can negatively impact employees’ mental health, as well as lead to inaccurate assessments of employee performance.
- A federal court has indefinitely blocked the Trump executive order eliminating four small agencies. A federal judge in Rhode Island issued a permanent injunction barring the administration from taking any further action to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business and Development Agency, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and the Interagency Council on Homelessness. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March, eliminating these agencies “to the maximum extent” possible. The judge found the decision to conduct widespread layoffs and cuts at these agencies “undermined their ability” to perform functions required by law.
- In fiscal 2025, 317,000 employees left federal services. At the same time, agencies hired about 68,000 new employees. The Office of Personnel Management said the government exceeded the White House’s goal of four reductions for every one new hire. There are now about 2.1 million federal employees. For 2026, agencies will submit annual headcount plans to OPM and OMB in the coming weeks. OPM said these plans should focus on the agency’s critical mission objectives only and should be built from the bottom up to determine how many people are needed to meet their priorities.
- The Senate breathed some life into the Technology Modernization Fund for 2026. After receiving no new funding for the last two years, the TMF could be getting a small influx of new money. The Senate is allocating $5 million for the governmentwide IT modernization account in its version of the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill. The House version of the FSGG bill didn’t include any new money for the TMF, meaning the final version would have to find a compromise between the two chambers of Congress. So far in 2025, the TMF Board has made only one new award for an agency modernization project.
- More than two weeks after the record-long government shutdown ended, some Defense Department civilian employees say they have yet to receive the back pay they are owed. At Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas, more than 150 people in a unit of more than 400 civilians are still waiting for as much as four weeks of back pay. The Defense Department said all civilians whose updated time and attendance records have been received have been paid, and that anyone still experiencing issues should contact their Agency Customer Service Representative or supervisor. But several civilian workers told Federal News Network that going to a supervisor has not worked.
- As the Defense Department moves to implement Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s sweeping acquisition reforms, Space Force leaders warn that the depth of workforce cuts is threatening to cripple the service’s ability to execute them. Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, acting assistant secretary for space acquisition at the Air Force, said that the service is “in a situation where it barely has enough acquirers to do all of the work that they have now.” The Trump administration push to reduce the size of the federal workforce has had an “outsized impact” on the Space Force. The service has lost nearly 14% of its civilian workforce, much of it coming from Space Systems Command, the Space Force’s acquisition hub.
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