Federal employee retirement applications hit another record high
09/03/2026 | 4 mins.
Federal employees’ retirement applications are continuing to flood the Office of Personnel Management. In February, another 31,000 retirement claims entered the agency’s systems. That puts OPM’s Retirement Services center at yet another record high of pending applications — now reaching above 65,000 cases with pensions that are yet-to-be finalized. That’s an 88% increase since OPM’s inventory last October, when retirements from the deferred resignation program first began trickling in. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
A plan to limit when federal employees can cancel their union dues is off the table
06/03/2026 | 6 mins.
A plan to limit when federal employees can cancel their union du es if officially off the table. The Federal Labor Relations Authority is rescinding a previous proposal from 2022, which would have given federal employees only a once-per-year opportunity to cancel dues payments. Since 2020, dues-paying federal employees have had the option to cancel automatic deductions for union dues at any time. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
OpenAI and the Defense Department adjust the deal they made days ago
05/03/2026 | 5 mins.
OpenAI and the Defense Department have adjusted the deal they made just days ago for use of the company’s artificial intelligence tools in classified environments. The changes center around prohibiting use of the Open AI’s technology for domestic surveillance, autonomous weapons systems and autonomous decision-making. These are similar to the safeguards Anthropic had insisted on that tanked its deal with the Pentagon and got it labeled as a national security risk. OpenAI also said the deal was adjusted to clarify that the Pentagon won’t use its technology at any of its intelligence agencies; that would require a separate agreement. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
New bill would protect domestic violence survivors during the federal retirement process
04/03/2026 | 6 mins.
A new bill would prevent federal retirees who survived domestic violence from needing to share personal details with their abusers during the retirement process. Currently, retired feds must get written consent from their current or former spouse if they update their retirement benefits; which can mean exposing personal contact information to abusers. But the “Federal Retirement Safety Act” sponsored by Congressman Joe Neguse would direct the Office of Personnel Management to waive the requirement for survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence. OPM already waives the requirement for people whose spouses have died or aren’t able to be located. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
TSP funds mostly stay positive in February
03/03/2026 | 6 mins.
Federal employees saw only small growth in most of their retirement accounts in February. All but one of the funds in the Thrift Savings Plan came in with positive returns for the month, but the increase was notably lower across the board. The I Fund, for example, saw the biggest increase of more than 6% in February, but that was much lower than the 12% increase it saw in January. The C Fund was the only account that came in negative, losing 0.76% as compared to January. For the year, all funds are in the black. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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