39 U.S.C. § 2008
Section 2008 · Audit and expenditures
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case Butz Engineering Corp. v. United States (1974)
Most recently applied in Mail Order Ass'n of America v. United States Postal Service (January 1993)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) The accounts and operations of the Postal Service shall be audited by the Comptroller General and reports thereon made to the Congress to the extent and at such times as he may determine.
(b) The Postal Service shall maintain an adequate internal audit of the financial transactions of the Postal Service.
(c) Subject only to the provisions of this chapter, the Postal Service is authorized to make such expenditures and to enter into such contracts, agreements, and arrangements, upon such terms and conditions and in such manner as it deems necessary, including the final settlement of all claims and litigation by or against the Postal Service.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as denying to the Postal Service the power to obtain audits of the accounts of the Postal Service and reports concerning its financial condition and operations by certified public accounting firms. Such audits and reports shall be in addition to those required by this section.
(e) At least once each year beginning with the fiscal year commencing after June 30, 1971, the Postal Service shall obtain a certification from an independent, certified public accounting firm of the accuracy of any financial statements of the Postal Service used in determining and establishing postal rates.