The U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division is offering financial incentives to individuals (not companies) who report antitrust violations connected to the United States Postal Service.
On July 8, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced a new whistleblower program offering financial rewards of 15-30% of any criminal fine over $1 million recovered to individuals who report certain types of competition-related crimes, including federal antitrust crimes (and federal crimes committed to effectuate, facilitate, or conceal such violations), violations targeting or affecting federal, state, or local procurement, or violations “affecting” federal competition investigations. The program is administered through a partnership between the Antitrust Division, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Postal Service, as detailed in a Memorandum of Understanding between the agencies.
Despite the involvement of the Postal Service, companies should not assume that the new program only applies to obviously postal-related crimes. The MOU provides that a U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) official will assess whether allegations "reasonably articulate violations of law affecting the Postal Service, its revenues, or property" when sufficient evidence shows the Postal Service suffered "identifiable harm.” That harm, however, need not be “material” or pose “any substantial detriment to the Postal Service,” and DOJ’s press release announcing the program noted that it “includes industries where the USPS procures goods and services either directly or indirectly.”
The DOJ’s press release suggests the agency will take a broad approach to connecting antitrust violations to the Postal Service, noting the program will cover any “antitrust crimes and related offenses…across industries from healthcare to agriculture.” The USPIS has partnered with the DOJ’s Antitrust Division before, and these cases show the broad range of the Postal Service’s investigative reach. For instance, the USPS partnered with the DOJ in 2019 in a criminal case involving generic drug price-fixing and procurement.
Whistleblower eligibility also requires that the reported information is original, timely, and voluntarily provided—meaning it is derived from the whistleblower’s independent knowledge and is not already known by the DOJ. Information is not original if it was obtained in violation of state or federal law, the whistleblower is an officer, director, trustee, or partner of an entity and another person informed them of misconduct, the whistleblower’s principal duties involve compliance, or they were employed by a firm hired to conduct investigations into possible violations. However, executives or compliance officers may still be eligible for a reward if their company fails to report the violation to the DOJ within 120 days of receiving their company’s own internal report.
Key Takeaways
The new program underscores that antitrust enforcement continues to be a priority for the Department of Justice. While the Antitrust Division has long offered corporate leniency to encourage companies to report violations of the antitrust laws, this is the first program incentivizing individual reporting—with potentially substantial financial rewards. Companies deciding whether to seek leniency under the Department’s Corporate Leniency Program will now need to consider the possibility that an individual could report a violation first, which could result in the company losing eligibility for leniency if it waits to report too long. In particular, if a company waits more than 120 days after receiving information, certain officers and compliance employees who would otherwise not qualify as whistleblowers become newly eligible for the program.
These risks could alter the timetable of decision-making when a company becomes aware of a potential antitrust violation. The program thus may accelerate the pace of self-disclosure of antitrust violations, particularly given the government's broad interpretation of what constitutes harm to the Postal Service.
The new program, however, can only be effective if individuals are aware of its existence. Beyond the initial press release and attendant coverage, it remains to be seen what the government will do to promote the program in a way that reaches individuals who are in a position to participate and report potential violations.
