The FED Weekly

Lawrence: Welcome to The FED Weekly
for 9-15 November 2025, your essential

weekly briefing on the policies
and proposals shaping your career,

your benefits, and your retirement.

Whether you’re a current federal employee
navigating changes in the civil service,

or a retiree keeping a close watch on your
hard-earned pension and healthcare, this

is your source for the latest news from
Capitol Hill and the executive branch.

Each week, we cut through the noise to
bring you the critical updates on budget

negotiations, pay raises, workforce
policies, and the legislative battles that

directly impact the federal community.

Let's get you up to speed on
what happened this past week.

Issues That Affect Current
and Retired Federal Workers

The Government Shutdown:
Uncharted Territory

The most significant development of this
reporting period was the confirmation

that the 2025 federal government shutdown
has moved into unprecedented territory.

On Wednesday, 5 November 2025, the
funding lapse reached Day 36, officially

becoming the longest shutdown in U.S.

history.

This surpasses the previous 35-day
record set during the 2018–2019 closure

under the first Trump administration.

The shutdown finally ended
on 12 November after 43 days.

The duration of this crisis has
imposed immense financial and emotional

burdens on the federal workforce.

By the first week of November,
approximately 670,000 federal employees

were furloughed, while another 730,000
employees were deemed "excepted" and

required to continue working without pay.

These workers have already missed two
full paychecks, forcing many to rely

on credit cards, accrue debt, and
purchase only essential groceries.

The financial consequences are
staggering; if the shutdown continues

through 1 December 2025, the total
amount of missing wages withheld

from civilian federal employees will
reach approximately $21 billion.

This sustained economic pressure
is not merely an inconvenience; it

represents a fundamental threat to
the financial stability of nearly 1.4

million families.

Furthermore, the cascading effects
of the shutdown are impacting

public services relied upon by
both active employees and retirees.

Critical safety net programs
have been disrupted.

For example, the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program, or SNAP, which

supports 42 million Americans,
effectively froze on 1 November 2025.

Although a federal court ordered
the Agriculture Department to use

contingency funds to maintain the
program, the timeline for the release

of these funds remains uncertain,
leading to widespread disruption.

Similarly, risks to public health
have emerged, as some Medicare and

Medicaid patients lost access to remote
medical care because telehealth waivers

expired when the government shut down.

These service disruptions highlight
that the damage caused by the funding

impasse extends far beyond the federal
workforce itself, compromising essential

public services used by a vulnerable
population, including many retirees.

Preparing for the 2025
Federal Benefits Open Season

Despite the shutdown crisis, the annual
window for benefits enrollment is here.

The Office of Personnel Management
(OPM) confirmed that the 2025 Federal

Benefits Open Season will run from 10
November 2025 through 8 December 2025.

This period is critical for all eligible
current federal and postal employees, as

well as annuitants, to enroll in, change,
or adjust their health, dental, and vision

coverage for the upcoming 2026 plan year.

The timing of Open Season is particularly
difficult for active employees.

Furloughed workers may lack access
to their government computer systems,

official emails, or agency Human
Resources staff, creating significant

barriers to researching their
options and making informed decisions

about complex coverage changes.

Crucially, OPM has advised that
several health, dental, and vision

plans will be discontinued for 2026.

Enrollees currently participating in
these specific programs must choose a

new plan during the Open Season to ensure
continued coverage in the new year.

Specifically, six Federal Employees
Health Benefits (FEHB) plans, one

Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB)
plan, and one Federal Employees Dental

and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP)
plan will no longer be available.

This mandatory decision-making for
those eight discontinued plans, coupled

with the existing financial stress of
the shutdown, necessitates proactive

planning by all affected employees and
retirees starting 10 November 2025.

For the 2026 plan year, OPM reports that
the FEHB Program offers 132 plan options

across 47 carriers, the PSHB Program
offers 75 plan options, and FEDVIP offers

21 dental and 10 vision plan options.

Issues That Affect Retired Federal Workers

WEP and GPO Repeal Implementation Update

The Social Security Fairness Act, signed
into law on 5 January 2025, ended the

Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)
and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).

These provisions historically reduced
or eliminated Social Security benefits

for individuals, including federal
retirees covered by the Civil Service

Retirement System (CSRS), who also
received a pension based on work

not covered by Social Security.

The Act’s repeal was made retroactive
to January 2024, triggering a

monumental effort by the Social
Security Administration (SSA) to adjust

millions of beneficiary accounts and
issue retroactive lump-sum payments.

The key news for retirees during
early November 2025 is the

administrative timeline for completion.

The SSA reported that the
vast majority of beneficiary

accounts—91 percent, totaling 2.5

million cases—had been
adjusted by June 2025.

More complex accounts requiring manual
processing, which included some of the

most difficult cases, are expected to
be fully updated, with past-due benefits

released, by early November 2025.

This marks the administrative conclusion
of the SSA's primary effort to fulfill

the law, signaling a shift from
legislative anticipation to financial

confirmation for the affected population.

Accompanying this implementation,
the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid

Services (CMS) is resolving a secondary
administrative issue where some

beneficiaries experienced dual Medicare
premium deductions from both their SSA

benefits and their federal pensions.

CMS is working to automatically
refund those affected individuals.

This concurrent effort demonstrates
the government's focus on cleaning

up the complex administrative trail
left by the WEP and GPO repeal.

As large lump-sum retroactive payments
finalize, the SSA issued renewed

warnings regarding scams related to
the Social Security Fairness Act.

Retirees are strongly cautioned against
communications asking for payment to

expedite or enhance their benefits.

The SSA explicitly states that no
government agency or reputable company

will ever solicit personal information
or request advanced fees for services in

the form of wire transfers or gift cards.

This guidance is critical for protecting
recipients of the new benefits from

fraud as the final payments are issued.

2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA)

Social Security beneficiaries
received confirmation of the 2026

Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA)
figure this reporting period.

The COLA for 2026 will be 2.8

percent, applying to nearly 71
million Social Security beneficiaries

and beginning in January 2026.

This follows the 2.5

percent COLA received in 2025.

The 2.8

percent adjustment is calculated
based on the increase in the Consumer

Price Index for Urban Wage Earners
and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

The increase underscores the ongoing need
for adjustments to maintain purchasing

power in the face of sustained inflation.

Notably, the 2026 adjustment
marks the fifth consecutive year

that the COLA has been set at 2.5

percent or higher, a prolonged trend
of significant adjustments not observed

since the period between 1988 and 1997.

For fixed-income retirees, this confirms
that persistent inflation remains a

dominant economic factor requiring
continued attention to budgetary planning.

The SSA also provided a
timeline for notification.

COLA notices will be accessible online
to most beneficiaries through the

Message Center of their My Social
Security account in late November 2025.

Those who have not opted to receive
digital communications will receive their

official notice by mail in December.

For Federal Employees Retirement
System (FERS) retirees, the

broader context remains the ongoing
legislative push for COLA parity.

While FERS retirees generally
receive smaller COLAs than Civil

Service Retirement System (CSRS)
retirees, advocacy groups, such

as the National Treasury Employees
Union (NTEU), continue to endorse

and lobby for the Equal COLA Act.

This legislation aims to ensure all
federal retirees share in the full

annual cost-of-living adjustment.

Issues That Affect Current Federal Workers

Legal and Procedural
Impacts of the Shutdown

In a significant victory for federal
employee unions, including the American

Federation of Government Employees
(AFGE), a preliminary injunction

was secured on 3 November 2025
from a federal court in California.

This injunction prevents the
administration from firing federal

workers due to the government shutdown.

The union arguments focused on the
administration's alleged violation

of law by threatening to issue
reductions-in-force (RIFs) or

demanding employees work unpaid
to carry out mass terminations.

This judicial intervention provides
a vital layer of job security for

the thousands of furloughed employees
facing immense financial hardship.

While the crisis of missed paychecks
continues, the court order mitigates

the worst-case scenario: the involuntary
separation of employees solely due

to the lapse in appropriations.

This action ensures that job permanence,
at least for the duration of the shutdown,

is protected by judicial oversight.

However, the continued duration
of the shutdown led to formal

procedural steps that reinforce
the long-term nature of the crisis.

Because the initial furlough exceeded
30 days, agencies, including the

Internal Revenue Service (IRS), were
legally required to issue renewed

furlough notices to all employees.

These notices were effective midnight
on 8 November 2025, informing staff

of a potential furlough extension
of up to an additional 30 days.

This administrative marker confirms
that government agencies are preparing

for an indefinite, protracted closure,
compelling employees who are already

strained to plan for an extended
period without reliable income.

Legislative Debate Over
Future Pay: The 2026 Showdown

Even amidst the immediate funding
crisis, the legislative battle over

2026 federal pay is intensely active.

On 28 August 2025, the President
issued an Alternative Pay Plan

regarding January 2026 pay adjustments.

This plan calls for providing most
General Schedule (GS) employees with a 1.0

percent across-the-board base
increase, coupled with a freeze

of locality pay at 2025 levels.

However, the plan directs the Office
of Personnel Management (OPM) to use

its Special Salary Rate authority to
provide an additional approximately 2.8

percent increase for certain
law enforcement officials,

resulting in a total 3.8

percent increase for this group.

This targeted increase is designed
to match the increase expected

for members of the military.

The decision to use targeted special
salary rates—authority typically reserved

for addressing recruitment or retention
problems in specific, high-cost, or

undesirable roles—to award a differential
raise breaks the long-standing

tradition of pay parity between civilian
federal employees and service members.

This disparity is expected to
heighten frustration among the

wider civilian workforce, whose
pay increase is capped at 1.0

percent.

In opposition to the President’s plan,
federal employee unions, including AFGE,

are endorsing legislation that would
provide all federal employees with a 4.3

percent pay adjustment for 2026.

Unions argue that federal salaries
remain, on average, 27 percent below

those paid for similar jobs outside
the government, contributing to

persistent challenges in recruitment,
retention, and chronic understaffing.

Countering both the President's proposal
and the union-backed legislation is H.R.

200, the Federal Freeze Act.

This bill, introduced in the 119th
Congress, seeks to completely bar

pay raises for federal employees
for one year and requires mandatory

reductions in the number of
employees at each federal agency.

While legislative action on H.R.

200 during this reporting window is
not specified, its existence as a

pending bill represents a tangible
threat to the workforce, proposing

a simultaneous pay freeze and job
reduction mandate across all agencies.

Another major legislative proposal
affecting the future structure of

current federal employment is H.R.

201, the "Federal Employee Performance
and Accountability Act of 2025".

This bill proposes a fundamental shift
away from the traditional General

Schedule (GS) system by establishing
a five-year pilot program that makes

pay adjustments contingent solely on
performance for participating employees.

The pilot program would apply to
employees classified at or above the

GS-11 level holding positions with
clearly measurable performance criteria,

with agencies selecting between 1 and 10
percent of eligible staff to participate.

The most critical element of H.R.

201 is the pay structure and its
relationship to existing law.

Participating employees are
made ineligible for the annual

or locality-based pay increases
authorized under current law

during the duration of the pilot.

This forces participants to rely
exclusively on their performance

rating for any salary growth.

The mandatory adjustments
under the proposed performance

system are highly stratified:

Employees must receive a pay
increase of up to 10 percent.

Employees may not receive a
pay increase (0% adjustment).

Employees must receive a mandatory
pay reduction of 10 percent.

This structure introduces significant
financial risk into the federal workforce.

Under current GS standards, an employee
who "meets expectations" still receives

annual general and locality pay increases.

Under H.R.

201, that employee would receive a
zero percent raise for acceptable

performance, effectively falling
behind the pace of inflation and

their non-participating peers.

Furthermore, the mandatory 10 percent pay
reduction for a rating below expectations

is highly punitive, institutionalizing
a severe financial penalty.

By removing the safety net of standard
annual pay increases and pairing zero pay

growth for meeting expectations with high
potential penalties, the bill creates a

compensation system that may exacerbate
existing retention issues for reliable,

skilled mid-to-high level employees.

The program requires mandatory
annual reporting on cost savings

and productivity to the Office of
Management and Budget, followed by a

joint final outcome report by OMB and
the Government Accountability Office.

And that’s a wrap on this week’s
Federal Workforce Roundup.

The landscape for federal employees
and retirees is constantly shifting,

with major decisions being made about
everything from pay and job security

to retirement benefits and the very
structure of the civil service.

Staying informed is your best tool.

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Thanks for tuning in.

We’ll be back next week to
track the latest developments

and what they mean for you.

Until then, stay engaged and be well.