Benefits
TSP funds continue to tick upward in September
For a second consecutive month, all of the funds in the Thrift Savings Plan increased in value.
Your guide to pay and benefits during a shutdown
A lapse in appropriations looked likely after Senate Democrats rejected a plan to keep federal agencies open past Sept. 30, while the House is not expected to return to Washington until next month.
Virginia lawmaker takes over advocacy for federal workforce bills
Rep. James Walkinshaw this week formally assumed lead sponsorship for a series of bills introduced each year by his predecessor, the late Rep. Gerry, Connolly, D-Va.
Lawmakers sound alarm on administration of USPS health care program
The Office of Personnel Management still has less than half of the IT staff needed to support postal workers’ employer-sponsored health insurance program as it prepares for its second-ever open season this fall.
All TSP funds were back in the black in August
The Thrift Savings Plan’s international investments rebounded last month after lagging behind other portfolios in July.
Veterans Affairs reduces claims backlog at record rate
The Veterans Affairs Department processed more disability compensation and pension claims in fiscal 2025 than any other previous year.
TSP funds post mixed returns in July
While domestic investments in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program posted gains last month, its international fund faltered.
How to avoid Medicare Part B late enrollment penalties
Planning to retire soon? Here’s what to know about timing your Medicare enrollment to steer clear of costly penalties.
Trump’s hiring freeze has jeopardized postal workers’ health care, IG says
OPM told its agency watchdog that it has taken steps to ensure the Postal Service Health Benefits Program remains adequately staffed and funded but failed to provide any evidence that it had actually done so.
Reconciliation bill includes measure to help civilian intel analysts cover moving costs
The policy aims to ease the financial burden on non-military intelligence workers by aligning their moving expense tax benefits with those already afforded to military personnel.
All provisions targeting federal worker benefits, unions stricken from Senate reconciliation package
The Senate parliamentarian previously ruled that most of the proposals aimed at cutting federal employees’ retirement benefits and civil service protections violated a rule to ensure reconciliation bills are budgetary in nature.
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Senate strips most retirement cuts from reconciliation, but anti-civil service provisions remain
Under language released by a Senate panel Thursday night, new federal workers who decline to serve as at-will employees will pay nearly 15% of their paycheck toward their pension benefit.
Oversight Dems: Commerce reneged on probationers’ health benefits
Some recently fired probationary workers have also been unable to access their personnel records to show to insurance companies and prospective employers.
TSP funds rebound following months of losses
Only one portfolio in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program finished May in the red.
Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget would strip trans federal workers of insurance coverage
If enacted, the provision would bar the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program from covering federal employees and their family members’ gender affirming care treatments.
House passes reconciliation bill that cuts federal employee retirement benefits
Though Democrats were able to excise a plan to base federal retirees’ annuity payments on their highest five years of salary, rather than the current high-3, proposals to eliminate the FERS supplement and to charge employees for their civil service protections remain on the table.
Retirement cuts tweaked in House reconciliation package
The latest draft of the GOP’s plan to cut federal spending to pay for tax cuts and increased immigration enforcement no longer un-grandfathers federal workers hired before 2014 from increased retirement contribution rules passed in the 2010s and delays implementation of the FERS supplement.
House GOP’s law enforcement ‘exemption’ from retirement cuts is illusory, groups say
A pair of organizations representing federal law enforcement officers urged lawmakers to strengthen carveouts of an array of proposed cuts to federal workers’ retirement benefits but stopped short of calling for their withdrawal.
Health Savings Account contribution limits will rise in 2026. Here’s what federal employees need to know about High-Deductible Health Plans
For many federal employees, an HDHP can be the most cost-effective plan option.
VA moves survivors’ help office, again, to make it easier to get benefits
The department is seeking to reverse a 2021 decision by the Biden administration that placed the Office of Survivors Assistance under the Veterans Benefits Administration.
