Reimbursement of Relocation Expenses for Postal Service Employees

GAO was asked to reconsider decisions in which it held that an employee of the Postal Service who accepted an appointment to a new position with an executive agency was not eligible for reimbursement of relocation expenses under applicable regulations. Regulations exclude the Postal Service from the definition of an executive agency and direct that an employee of the Postal Service not be deemed an agency employee for the purposes of the applicable regulations except as otherwise expressly provided by law. Therefore, GAO had no alternative but to conclude that the regulations which govern relocation expenses in Federal agencies have no application to employees of the Postal Service. Absent an amendment to the legislation, GAO had no basis to reverse or modify its previous decisions.