Management
The end of the ‘Fork in the Road’
A new online retirement system, coupled with record summer claim volumes, has created delays and confusion for federal employees transitioning to annuitant status, even as OPM works to streamline processing and reduce errors.
Management
A new ‘activist’ OPM is incrementally reforming the civil service, Part 1
COMMENTARY | The Office of Personnel Management has the opportunity to implement real civil service reforms, if it can get away from its one-size-fits-all management approach.
Tech
OPM adds OpenAI to its employees’ computers
The government’s personnel agency is taking advantage of the General Services Administration’s OneGov deal with OpenAI.
Pay & Benefits
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.
Management
Rule limiting ‘outstanding’ performance ratings for agency senior executives finalized
The final rule also strikes promotion of diversity and inclusion as a criteria for appraising senior executives.
Workforce
Trump's mass probationary firings were illegal, judge concludes, but he won't order re-hirings
Agencies will have to send new letters to 25,000 impacted staff explaining the decision.
Pay & Benefits
What to know before setting your 2026 retirement date
Immediate vs. deferred retirement, the three-day rule, and why the last day of the month often makes the most sense.
Management
OPM implements years-in-the-making update to federal hiring process
The "rule of many" aims to give federal hiring managers more information and choices as they evaluate job candidates.
Pay & Benefits
OPM lays out early plans for law enforcement-only pay raise
Federal employee groups decried President Trump’s plan to raise pay for most civilian employees by just 1% next year while giving military service members and law enforcement officers 3.8%.
Management
OPM tech lead Greg Hogan leaves post
The personnel agency’s handling of sensitive agency data — and who can access it — has been at the center of many lawsuits since the start of Trump 2.0.
Oversight
OPM will forego FEVS in 2025, despite law requiring it
The Office of Personnel Management did not answer questions regarding how the federal government will administer a survey of the 16 core Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey questions, which are spelled out in statute.
Management
DOGE can maintain access to federal personnel data, court rules
The DOGE affiliates will also keep unfettered access to federal education and taxpayer information.
Workforce
OPM orders deletion of federal workers’ vaccination records
The announcement came hours after a formal dissolution of a lawsuit challenging the Biden-era requirement that federal employees be vaccinated against COVID-19, which hasn’t been enforced since 2023.
Workforce
At least 148,000 federal employees have left government under Trump, good government group reports
The Partnership for Public Service acknowledged that it’s difficult to track the number of civil servants who have departed because the Trump administration has not publicized much of the information.
Workforce
Trump administration reminds federal employees they can proselytize in the office
Supervisors can solicit employees to attend their church, OPM says in new guidance.
Management
Managers are the linchpins to improved performance
COMMENTARY | To reach its performance management goals, OPM may need to look at the inherent challenges facing agency managers and how to improve their engagement.
Workforce
New OPM head plans to cement focus on efficiency
Scott Kupor said he won’t be taking orders from DOGE, though he’s “happy to partner with people” that are helpful to his overall goals for the agency.
Pay & Benefits
OPM’s digital retirement application is live. What that means for feds planning to retire
The new electronic retirement system promises a faster, more accurate process, but some users are still adjusting to the change.
Updated
Workforce
OPM urges ‘generous approach’ to approving religion-based telework
A memo encouraging the approval of telework arrangements for people with religious reasonable accommodation requests comes as some agencies look to crack down on disability-based telework usage.
Management