OPM is ending a promotion rule, but agencies still have work to do

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OPM formally discontinues Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey

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<p>With two months left for agencies to conduct a required annual assessment of federal employee satisfaction and engagement, the Office of Personnel Management is finalizing major changes to the structure and distribution of the now-defunct Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.</p>
<p>Following <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/29/2026-22093/personnel-management-in-agencies-strategic-human-capital-management">final regulations</a> published Thursday, OPM has formally moved forward with ending the distribution of FEVS, which it has overseen for more than 20 years. Instead, it’s telling agencies to issue their own versions of the workforce survey by the end of the calendar year.</p>
<p>OPM said the changes are meant to make the engagement survey more useful and actionable. But critics of OPM’s changes contend that removing the governmentwide survey will undermine years of comparable workforce data and reduce transparency into the results.</p>
<p>In its final rule, OPM pointed to three large agencies that have already discontinued using FEVS — NASA, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Securities and Exchange Commission — as evidence that the engagement survey needed to be individualized.</p>

<p>“Part of the reason the FEVS was discontinued was because its one-size-fits-all approach makes it difficult for agencies to assess their own needs without also doing their own survey in addition to participating in the FEVS,” OPM said.</p>
<p>Still, agencies will have to include core survey questions in their workforce assessments — a list of questions that OPM has also <a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2026/07/opm-seeks-to-decentralize-revise-governmentwide-federal-employee-survey/">revised substantially</a>. OPM’s final rule this week made no revisions to the 10 governmentwide questions it initially posed in July.</p>
<p>Starting this year, agencies will not be required to ask employees about their workload, job satisfaction and whether they would recommend their organization as a good place to work. But agencies will have to add back in two questions asking employees about poor performers in their work units, OPM’s revisions show.</p>
<p>In public comments on OPM’s proposal earlier this year, the Senior Executives Association <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/comment/OPM-2026-0368-0009">recommended</a> that OPM publish a “bridge analysis,” detailing the relationship between the outgoing and incoming core questions, “so that agencies do not lose the ability to track trends across the transition, and that OPM retain a floor of governmentwide comparability even as it decentralizes survey administration.”</p>
<p>OPM agreed with the recommendation and said it “will publish a crosswalk discussing the relationship between retiring and incoming items,” when it issues forthcoming implementation guidance.</p>
<p>The final rule follows OPM’s <a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2026/07/opm-seeks-to-decentralize-revise-governmentwide-federal-employee-survey/">July proposal</a> to revise the required governmentwide survey questions and decentralize FEVS. Last year, OPM fully <a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/08/after-months-of-postponing-opm-opts-to-fully-cancel-2025-fevs/">canceled</a> the 2025 FEVS, marking the first time since the survey launched more than two decades ago that FEVS was not conducted at all.</p>
<p>Several organizations have warned that some of OPM’s changes will lead to an erosion of confidentiality, and by extension, employee trust. Democracy Forward’s Civil Service Strong initiative said OPM’s overhauls to the core questions will also <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/comment/OPM-2026-0368-0008">make it harder to measure</a> engagement and satisfaction.</p>

<p>“The federal government cannot manage what it does not measure, but measurement is useful only when it is valid, trusted and transparent,” said Robert Shriver, managing director of Civil Service Strong. “As the central federal oversight entity for workforce management, OPM should reflect the best in these principles. The proposal would weaken these qualities.”</p>
<p>In response, OPM said it outlined anonymity guidance for agencies in its <a href="https://www.opm.gov/chcoc/latest-memos/employee-survey-playbook.pdf">employee survey playbook</a>, and that it will continue requiring agencies to set confidentiality expectations in their surveys.</p>
<p>“OPM agrees that confidentiality is essential to reliable measurement,” the agency said. “OPM will monitor response rates across agencies and will revisit these safeguards in future administration requirements if participation data indicate an erosion of employee trust.”</p>
<p>The Partnership for Public Service, which recently re-launched its own <a href="https://ourpublicservice.org/public-service-viewpoint-survey">external engagement survey</a> for federal employees, also warned that OPM’s changes will reduce the ability to measure survey results across agencies, undermining Congress’ intended purpose when it created the federal employee survey requirements in 2004.</p>
<p>“Benchmarks are needed to understand what the survey results are telling us and to hold organizations and leaders accountable,” Partnership for Public Service President and CEO Max Stier said in <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/comment/OPM-2026-0368-0006">public comments</a> earlier this year. “If agencies conduct their own surveys without common methodological standards, survey timing, sampling, weighting methods or reporting requirements, comparison will likely not be possible.”</p>
<p>The organization also raised concerns that many agencies will likely struggle with the resources needed to run their own surveys, especially under a shortened timeline. The removal of questions on engagement, satisfaction and workload appears to contradict congressional intent, it added.</p>
<p>“OPM’s decision to cut them consequently appears to be a direct effort to ignore the employee experience and avoid accountability for leadership and management practices over the last year and a half,” Stier said.</p>
<p>OPM largely disagreed with the commenters’ arguments and declined to alter its new framework for the engagement survey. In contrast, OPM said a decentralized survey will improve human capital management “because [agencies] understand their own missions, structures, workforces and management challenges, while a common set of required questions preserves the ability to track governmentwide trends.”</p>
<p>Though it’s no longer administering FEVS, OPM is now offering new fee-for-service assistance for agencies in need of help distributing their own surveys. OPM’s Human Resources Solutions (HRS) office has rolled out support services — at a cost — to help agencies administer the assessment and prepare post-survey reports.</p>

<p>“Our flexible survey solutions help agencies meet annual employee survey requirements, track workforce trends and priorities, and turn employee feedback into action,” <a href="https://www.opm.gov/agency-services/talent-management-services/assessment-and-evaluation/organizational-assessments/">OPM’s website reads</a>. “The organizational assessment survey offers a more tailored way to meet the annual survey requirement.”</p>
<p>The cost of the services depends on factors like agency size and the scope of support needed. An OPM spokesperson declined to share the actual costs associated with the survey services, saying the prices are too varied to provide an accurate estimate.</p>
<p>“OPM is working with interested agencies to clarify their needs, timelines and scope of support,” the spokesperson said.</p>
<p>OPM Director Scott Kupor has said decentralizing the federal employee survey will help agencies achieve a higher level of detail in the results and more helpful workforce insights.</p>
<p>“The key to all this is making sure that these things are done at enough level of frequency and at the appropriate level of granularity, so that at the manager level people can actually get feedback that is actionable for them,” Kupor said in a <a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2026/10/opm-eliminates-time-in-grade-restrictions-for-federal-promotions/">recent interview</a> with Federal News Network.</p>
<p>“At the end of the day, do we have the elements of a high-performance culture? Do people understand their objectives? Do they understand how their work ties into the overall organization?” Kupor continued. “Those things kind of predict long-term performance of an organization as well as, obviously, long-term retention of key performers.”</p>
<div style="clear:both"></div><p><strong>If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email <a href="mailto:drew.friedman@federalnewsnetwork.com">drew.friedman@federalnewsnetwork.com</a> or reach out on Signal at drewfriedman.11</strong></p>
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OPM looks to recruit the next generation of federal employees

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<ul><li style="margin-top:20px;">Early-career workers looking to join public service have some upcoming opportunities. The Office of Personnel Management is hosting a hiring fair today, targeted at recruitment of employees under 30 years old. At the event, candidates will have the opportunity to interview for a role, with the potential to receive an initial job offer. It’s the first recruitment event in a planned series, OPM said. For fiscal 2027, the Trump administration has set a governmentwide target of making 33% of all new hires early-career talent. 

-- Drew Friedman<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USOPM/bulletins/430c3cb">Hiring fair for early-career employees</a> - Office of Personnel Management)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Trump administration has moved forward with overhauling agencies’ reporting requirements on human capital management. A final rule from the Office of Personnel Management this week officially replaces traditional human capital reviews and operating plans. Instead, agencies will have to use a different framework centered on the Trump administration’s annual staffing plans and reviews. OPM said the change is meant to streamline workforce planning, while aligning agencies’ strategic human capital goals with administration priorities. 

-- Drew Friedman<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-22093.pdf">Final rule on strategic human capital management</a> - Office of Personnel Management)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">A new bill would let citizens update their change of address once across all agencies. The Tell Government Once Act would require the General Services Administration to streamline how citizens notify federal agencies about a change of address. GSA would create a voluntary form on Login.gov for users to complete indicating which agencies to share the change of address with. The form would not store the address change and would not share with agencies not approved by the user. Reps. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) and Congresswoman Young Kim (D-Calif.), who introduced the bill, say it won't create any new databases or require any additional funding. 

-- Silvia Oakland<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://subramanyam.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-suhas-subramanyam-and-rep-young-kim-introduces-tell-government-once-act">New bill aims to streamline change of address across federal agencies</a> - Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.))</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The State Department is being sued over not paying its construction bills. BL Harbert International has filed suit in the Court of Federal Claims to recover more than $450 million from the State Department in unpaid construction costs. The Birmingham, Alabama, company said despite repeated attempts, State has failed to pay it for12 embassy and consulate projects in places including Mexico, Guatemala, Turkey and Thailand. In its lawsuit, BL Harbaret said the government has now taken possession of each of those projects and has been actively utilizing some of them for more than three years without paying the extra costs it incurred. 

-- Jason Miller<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(Construction company sues State for $450M over unpaid bills - BL Harbert )</div></li><p></p>

<li style="margin-top:20px;">The Office of the National Cyber Director is expanding its critical infrastructure cybersecurity pilots. This week, ONCD launched Project Lifeline 250, a six-month pilot to strengthen cybersecurity across rural hospitals in South Carolina. The effort builds on the Project Watershed 250 effort in Texas, an initiative announced this summer to strengthen water sector cybersecurity. Both pilots are aimed at evaluating cybersecurity solutions that can be scaled to protect infrastructure across the country. 
-- Justin Doubleday 
<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://governor.sc.gov/news/2026-10/gov-mcmaster-white-house-national-cyber-director-cairncross-launch-project-lifeline">Project Lifeline 250</a> - South Carolina Governor’s office)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Department of Homeland Security has banned a Swiss company’s products from government IT systems. DHS has ordered agencies to steer clear of products and services from Switzerland-based cybersecurity company Acronis. The removal and exclusion order was signed by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin in July, but released publicly this week. Acronis provides cybersecurity services to companies across the world. But Mullin’s order points to the privileged access that Acronis’s products provide to customer cybersecurity systems, arguing they present a significant risk to U.S. government IT systems. The intelligence community had already banned Acronis from highly classified systems last year. 

-- Justin Doubleday<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/cybersecurity/2026/10/dhs-bans-swiss-cyber-firm-from-federal-systems/">DHS bans Swiss cyber firm from federal systems</a> - Federal News Network)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Federal Communications Commission is ramping back up its cybersecurity assurance program for Internet of Things (IoT) and connected devices. The revitalized U.S. Cyber Trust Mark program is now being led by FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty. Trusty will help coordinate efforts to put the program into practice, engage with stakeholders and make the label useful and understandable for Americans shopping for connected devices. The FCC initially launched the Cyber Trust Mark program in 2023 with the goal of creating a voluntary process for companies to submit their internet devices to third-party assessors who will evaluate the products to determine if they meet more rigorous cybersecurity standards to earn a Cyber Trust Mark label.   

-- Jason Miller

<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/carr-announces-trusty-will-lead-us-cyber-trust-mark-program">FCC names Trusty to lead revitalized U.S.. Cyber Trust Mark program</a> - Federal Communications Commission)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The National Institute of Standards and Technology said agencies can expect new resources to help navigate the transition to post-quantum cryptography. NIST officials say the Quantum Readiness Task Force will release white papers to help guide conversations with third-party providers and suppliers. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said agencies need to continue identifying high-value assets and move quickly if they're going to meet migration deadlines. CISA and NIST officials will continue to look at industry partners to help guide how to accelerate the migration process. 

-- Silvia Oakland<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/">NIST says new PQC resources are on the horizon</a> - Federal News Network)</div></li><p></p></ul>
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                            © 2026 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.</em>
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DHS personnel leak exposes contact details and sensitive job information

Underused federal office data incomplete but improving

DHS secretary plans post-election security review

Federal Retirement Checklist: 7 key benefits you can’t afford to ignore

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<p>If you are retiring from federal service in the next year, the seven benefits below decide whether your first decade of retirement is comfortable or stressful. Each one has deadlines, elections or traps that are easy to miss.</p>
<p>The timing matters this fall. The 2027 FERS cost-of-living adjustment is 2.6%, a full point below the 3.6% that Social Security and CSRS retirees receive. General Schedule base and locality pay are held flat for January 2027. FEHB enrollee premiums rise an average of 10.9% for 2027, and Open Season opens November 9. OPM has also moved to fully digital retirement filing, but average processing times remain long.</p>
<p>Use this article as your checklist. Work through each benefit, then use the timeline at the end to put dates on your calendar.</p>
<ol>
<li><strong> Your FERS Basic Annuity</strong></li>
</ol>
<p>The FERS basic annuity is a lifetime, inflation-adjusted pension, and it is the foundation of your retirement income. It equals 1% of your High-3 average salary for each year of service. If you retire at 62 or older with at least 20 years of service, the multiplier rises to 1.1%.</p>
<p><strong>Check these items before you set a date:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Eligibility.</strong> Immediate retirement generally requires your Minimum Retirement Age (MRA) plus 30 years, age 60 with 20 years, or age 62 with 5 years. MRA plus 10 years is available, but the annuity is reduced 5% for each year you are under 62 unless you postpone it.</li>
<li><strong>High-3 and contributions.</strong> Your High-3 is your highest average basic pay over any three consecutive years. Standard FERS employee contribution rates remain 0.8%, 3.1% or 4.4%, and the High-3 formula remains in effect. Proposals in 2025 to change contribution rates and switch to a High-5 calculation were not enacted.</li>
<li><strong>COLA rules.</strong> FERS retirees generally become eligible for COLAs at 62. When inflation exceeds 3%, FERS gets the CPI change minus one point. When it is between 2% and 3%, FERS gets 2%. Below 2%, FERS gets the full amount. For 2027 that means 2.6% for FERS and 3.6% for CSRS.</li>
<li><strong>Final estimate.</strong> Ask your agency HR office for a retirement estimate, and verify that all of your service is creditable before you commit.</li>
</ul>
<ol start="2">
<li><strong> The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)</strong></li>
</ol>
<p>The TSP is the one retirement benefit you control directly, and contributing at least 5% of basic pay captures the full agency contribution. That is a 1% automatic contribution plus up to a 4% match.</p>
<p>The 2026 contribution limits are:</p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Contribution type</strong></td>
<td><strong>2026 limit</strong></td>
<td><strong>Who it applies to</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Regular elective deferral</td>
<td> $24,500</td>
<td>All participants</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Age 50+ catch-up</td>
<td>$8,000 (total $32,500)</td>
<td>Turning 50 or older in 2026</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Age 60-63 catch-up</td>
<td>$11,250 (total $35,750)</td>
<td>Turning 60, 61, 62 or 63 in 2026</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong>Points to watch:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Mandatory Roth catch-up.</strong> Beginning in 2026, if your prior-year wages from TSP-eligible positions exceeded $150,000, your catch-up contributions must be Roth.</li>
<li><strong>Traditional vs. Roth.</strong> Compare your current tax bracket to the bracket you expect in retirement. Many people hold both types for flexibility.</li>
<li><strong>Withdrawals.</strong> You can generally withdraw penalty-free if you separate from service in or after the year you turn 55. Required minimum distributions begin at 73 or 75, depending on your birth year.</li>
<li><strong>Stay in the TSP.</strong> Its low expense ratios are a reason many retirees leave their balance there rather than rolling it over.</li>
</ul>
<ol start="3">
<li><strong> Social Security</strong></li>
</ol>
<p>FERS employees pay into Social Security, and when you claim is one of the largest financial decisions you will make. Claiming at 62 permanently reduces your benefit, and each year you delay up to age 70 increases it. For anyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Request your earnings record.</strong> Review your statement at ssa.gov for gaps or errors well before you claim.</li>
<li><strong>Mind the earnings test.</strong> If you claim before full retirement age and keep working, benefits are withheld above an annual limit. The 2027 limit is $25,560.</li>
<li><strong>Coordinate with your pension.</strong> A larger TSP balance or pension can let you delay claiming, which raises a lifetime benefit that also adjusts for inflation.</li>
<li><strong>Plan for the survivor.</strong> The higher earner’s benefit becomes the survivor benefit, which is another reason to consider delaying.</li>
</ul>
<ol start="4">
<li><strong> The FERS Annuity Supplement</strong></li>
</ol>
<p>The FERS Annuity Supplement is a temporary bridge payment that approximates your Social Security benefit until you reach 62. It is paid only if you retire on an immediate, unreduced annuity (such as MRA plus 30 years, or age 60 with 20 years) before 62. It is not paid with an MRA plus 10 or deferred retirement.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Calculation.</strong> It is based on your estimated Social Security benefit at 62, prorated by your FERS service divided by 40 years.</li>
<li><strong>Earnings test.</strong> Like Social Security, it can be reduced if you work after retiring and earn above the annual limit.</li>
<li><strong>It ends at 62.</strong> The payment stops at 62 whether or not you have claimed Social Security.</li>
<li><strong>Verify before you rely on it.</strong> Congress debated eliminating the supplement in 2025. Confirm its current status with your agency benefits office or OPM before you finalize your retirement date.</li>
</ul>
<ol start="5">
<li><strong> FEHB Health Coverage in Retirement</strong></li>
</ol>
<p>Keeping your Federal Employees Health Benefits coverage into retirement is one of the most valuable perks of federal service, but you must qualify. You generally need to be covered by FEHB for the five years of service immediately before you retire, or since your first opportunity to enroll if that is shorter. Missing this rule can mean losing FEHB for life, so verify your enrollment history now.</p>
<p><strong>What is new for 2027:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Open Season runs November 9 through December 14, 2026.</strong> Changes take effect in January 2027.</li>
<li><strong>Premiums are up.</strong> OPM reports the average enrollee share rises 10.9% for 2027, down from 12.3% in 2026. Individual plans vary widely, so compare yours.</li>
<li><strong>Nine FEHB plan options are leaving.</strong> If yours is one of them, choose a new plan during Open Season or you will be placed in a default plan.</li>
<li><strong>Dependent documentation.</strong> Anyone adding a new family member during Open Season must now submit supporting documents for verification.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Medicare planning:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>You do not have to enroll in Medicare Part B to keep FEHB, but many retirees add it at 65 to lower out-of-pocket costs. Compare your plan’s Medicare coordination features.</li>
<li>The 2027 Part B premium and income-related adjustments had not been officially announced as of this writing.</li>
<li>FEDVIP dental and vision coverage is separate and uses its own enrollment, typically during the same Open Season window. FEGLI and long-term care insurance do not participate in Open Season.</li>
</ul>
<ol start="6">
<li><strong> Survivor Benefits and FEGLI</strong></li>
</ol>
<p>Your survivor annuity election is made at retirement and is very hard to change later, so decide with your spouse before you file. A married retiree needs the spouse’s written consent to waive or reduce a survivor benefit.</p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Election</strong></td>
<td><strong>Survivor receives</strong></td>
<td><strong>Cost to you</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Full survivor annuity</td>
<td>50% of your unreduced annuity</td>
<td>10% reduction in your annuity</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Partial survivor annuity</td>
<td>25% of your unreduced annuity</td>
<td>5% reduction in your annuity</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>None (spouse consents)</td>
<td>No survivor annuity</td>
<td>No reduction</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>A surviving spouse who is covered under your FEHB plan generally can keep that coverage if a survivor annuity is paid, which adds to the value of the election.</p>
<p><strong>FEGLI life insurance:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>To carry FEGLI into retirement, you generally must have been covered for the five years before you retire, or since your first opportunity.</li>
<li>Basic insurance can reduce after 65 under a 75%, 50% or no-reduction option. The less it reduces, the higher your retirement premium.</li>
<li>Option B and Option C premiums rise with age, so review whether you still need them. Evaluate your life insurance needs against your pension, TSP and survivor election together.</li>
</ul>
<ol start="7">
<li><strong> Unused Sick Leave and Creditable Service</strong></li>
</ol>
<p>Unused sick leave and every creditable year of service raise your annuity, yet they are the benefits most often left unchecked. Under FERS, your unused sick leave is converted to extra service time when your annuity is calculated, at 174 hours per month. It increases the amount of your annuity but does not count toward meeting retirement eligibility.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Protect your sick leave balance.</strong> Check the balance in your final year, and avoid burning hours you do not need.</li>
<li><strong>Audit your service history.</strong> Confirm that all periods of federal service appear in your personnel records, including temporary and part-time work.</li>
<li><strong>Military service.</strong> Active-duty service may be creditable if you make the required deposit. Ask your HR office what deposit is owed and how it changes your computation.</li>
<li><strong>Civilian deposits and refunds.</strong> If you ever took a refund of retirement contributions, ask about redeposit options and how they affect your computation.</li>
<li><strong>Annual leave.</strong> Unused annual leave is paid out as a lump sum at separation. Plan how that payment fits your taxes and cash flow.</li>
</ul>
<h2><strong>Your Retirement Timeline Checklist</strong></h2>
<p>Plan for roughly three to six months between your last day and your final annuity amount, and expect interim pay in the meantime. OPM ended paper retirement processing for more than 95% of applications on July 1, 2026. In August 2026, immediate retirement cases averaged 79 days at OPM, and July digital claims averaged about 98 days. Agencies generally need at least 60 days to prepare your package before sending it to OPM.</p>
<p><strong>12 months or more before retirement</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Confirm your retirement eligibility date and annuity type (immediate, MRA+10, deferred)</li>
<li>Verify five years of continuous FEHB and FEGLI coverage</li>
<li>Audit your service history, sick leave balance and any deposits owed</li>
<li>Raise TSP contributions to at least 5% and use catch-up limits if eligible</li>
<li>Request your Social Security earnings record</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>6 months before</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Request a retirement estimate from your agency HR or benefits office</li>
<li>Discuss the survivor annuity election with your spouse</li>
<li>Choose a retirement date; many retirees pick the end of a pay period or the end of the month to maximize leave and annuity timing</li>
<li>Compare FEHB plans every Open Season (this year, November 9 to December 14, 2026)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>90 days before</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Gather marriage and birth records and the documents your HR office requests for your application and FEGLI continuation</li>
<li>Submit your retirement application through your agency; OPM now accepts applications through its Online Retirement Application</li>
<li>Budget for interim payments, which reported OPM guidance puts at roughly 60% to 80% of your final net annuity</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>After you retire</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Set up your OPM online account and check your first annuity statement</li>
<li>Make your TSP withdrawal elections</li>
<li>Choose your Social Security claiming age and apply when ready</li>
<li>Review your Medicare Part B decision around age 65</li>
<li>Confirm your tax withholding on the annuity and TSP withdrawals</li>
</ul>
<h2><strong>Bottom Line</strong></h2>
<p>The federal benefits package is strongest for employees who verify their eligibility early, maximize the TSP, make deliberate survivor and health coverage elections, and file with enough lead time. Start with your five-year FEHB and FEGLI history and a retirement estimate, because those two items have the least room for correction later.</p>
<p>This article is general information, not individualized financial or legal advice. Retirement rules and figures change, so confirm your details with your agency HR office, OPM or a qualified federal retirement planner before you act.</p>
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<p><strong>Nov. 10 at 6:30 pm ET | Nov. 12 at 1 pm ET</strong></p>
<h5 class="button custom_button"><a href="https://www.myfeba.org/federal-retirement-checklist-7-key-benefits-tues-november-10th-at-630pm-et-two-sessions-available/?utm_source=FNN&amp;utm_medium=MediaPartner&amp;utm_campaign=november10th&amp;utm_id=5">Register here</a></h5>
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<li>Your 2026-2028 Retirement Checklist With Specific Forms and Timelines</li>
<li>Catastrophic TSP Mistakes and How to Avoid Them</li>
<li>How the C, S, I, F, and G Funds Really Work—and Which Strategies Many Successful Retirees Use</li>
<li>Ways to Maximize Your TSP Through Smart Contribution, Withdrawal, and Tax Strategies</li>
<li>Understand How Your High-3 Salary, Years of Service, and Retirement Date Affect Your Pension Calculation</li>
<li>Learn the Key Factors That Determine Your Federal Pension—and How Small Decisions Today Can Impact Your Lifetime Income</li>
<li>Roth vs. Traditional TSP: Learn the Key Differences and How Each Could Impact Your Retirement Income</li>
<li>Understand the Relationship Between Your Pension, TSP, and Social Security to Create a More Complete Retirement Income Plan</li>
<li>How the Age-Based In-Service Withdrawal Could Open Up Additional Retirement Planning Opportunities After Age 59½</li>
<li>The Critical Retirement Forms You’ll Need—and Common Filing Mistakes That Can Delay Benefits</li>
<li>Live 30-Minute Interactive Q&amp;A Session—Get Answers to Your Federal Retirement Questions</li>
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‘Life-and-death implications’: Former IG warns ICE’s detention oversight is masking unsafe conditions

The Office of Personnel Management is an independent agency in the executive branch that serves as the chief human resources agency and personnel policy manager for the federal civilian workforce. It administers the merit system, federal retirement and health benefits, hiring and classification policy, and background investigations, and issues governmentwide human capital regulations. It was established by Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1978 and Executive Order 12107, effective January 1, 1979, and is led by a Director confirmed by the Senate.

Office of Personnel Management

Scott Kupor

Director of the Office of Personnel Management, the institutional head of Office of Personnel Management. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1978; directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

Director of the Office of Personnel Management

The national electorate of the United States; elects the President and Vice President through the Electoral College.

People of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government and holds the executive power of the federal government under Article II of the Constitution. Elected to a four-year term through the Electoral College, the President serves as commander in chief of the armed forces, executes federal law, makes treaties and nominations subject to Senate action, and may veto legislation passed by Congress.

President of the United States

Donald J. Trump

The Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, established by Article I of the Constitution. It is composed of 100 members, two from each state, elected to staggered six-year terms. The Senate shares legislative power with the House of Representatives and additionally holds the sole power to give advice and consent to treaties and to presidential nominations and to try impeachments. The Vice President serves as its presiding officer.