The FED Weekly

Lawrence: Welcome to The FED Weekly
for 16-22 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 period between November 16 and
November 22, 2025, falls squarely

within the annual Federal Benefits
Open Season, a critical window running

from Monday, November 10, 2025,
through Monday, December 8, 2025.

This open enrollment period is mandatory
for all federal employees and annuitants

to review their coverage for the
upcoming 2026 calendar year, covering

the Federal Employees Health Benefits
Program (FEHB), the Federal Employees

Dental and Vision Insurance Program
(FEDVIP), and the Federal Flexible

Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS).

The Critical Federal
Benefits Open Season Window

While Open Season is a regular occurrence,
the stakes are exceptionally high this

year due to significant plan changes and
terminations requiring mandatory action.

The deadlines are immutable: both the
Federal Employees Dental and Vision

Insurance Program and the Federal
Flexible Spending Account Program end

their enrollment period at 11:59 p.m.

Eastern Time on Monday, December
8, 2025, with the Federal Employees

Health Benefits Program also
concluding enrollment at 11:59 p.m.

that evening.

For those utilizing pre-tax flexible
spending accounts, specifically FSAFEDS,

the requirement is non-negotiable:
participation does not roll over.

Current employees must actively
re-enroll during the Open Season if

they wish to continue participation
in the FSAFEDS program for 2026.

Failure to act results in the cessation
of the benefit on January 1, 2026.

Crucial Alert Regarding Terminating Plans

The most urgent item during this
week revolves around the necessity of

action for participants whose plans
are terminating at the end of 2025.

Information distributed throughout the
week confirmed that several plans are

leaving the FEHB Program, and at least
one dental plan is leaving FEDVIP.

For current employees and retirees
enrolled in a terminating FEHB

plan, enrollment in a new plan
during Open Season is mandatory.

The U.S.

Office of Personnel Management has
established a critical default provision:

any participant who fails to select a new
FEHB plan will be automatically enrolled

in the GEHA Benefit Plan - High Option.

This automatic default, while
ensuring continuity of coverage,

carries substantial implications.

The selection of the GEHA Benefit
Plan - High Option, a typically

robust and high-premium plan, dictates
that an unaware annuitant or current

employee who previously opted for a
less expensive, perhaps high-deductible

or low-premium plan, may face a
significant, unanticipated increase

in monthly premium costs for 2026.

The government’s move to designate a "High
Option" plan as the default acts as a

safeguard against leaving the individual
without adequate coverage; however,

it removes the essential element of
consumer choice and mandates a substantial

financial commitment upon the enrollee.

This strips the individual of their
customary choice and forces them into

a high premium liability, requiring
intense media focus during this period.

For the single dental plan leaving FEDVIP
at the end of 2025, the consequence

is simpler but equally critical: those
enrolled in that specific plan must

actively enroll in a new dental plan.

Unlike the FEHB program, if no action
is taken, the individual will simply

lose dental insurance coverage for 2026.

2026 TSP Contribution Limits
and Mandatory Roth Catch-Up

Another crucial financial planning
matter for both current and retired

employees with existing Thrift Savings
Plan (TSP) accounts stems from changes

announced just prior to this period,
regarding 2026 contribution limits.

These changes, effective January
1, 2026, are part of the ongoing

implementation of the Setting Every
Community Up for Retirement Enhancement

Act of 2022, also known as SECURE 2.0.

The new regulation centers
on catch-up contributions for

participants age 50 or older in 2026.

Specifically, if an individual earned
more than the Internal Revenue Service

income threshold of $150,000 in
2025—a figure adjusted annually for

inflation—and their total contributions
exceed the elective deferral limit, those

additional catch-up contributions must
be designated as Roth contributions.

The change is not elective
for high-income earners.

The adjustment to Roth catch-up
contributions will be handled

automatically by the payroll
office, meaning no direct action

is needed to make the change.

However, this automatic action
mandates a specific tax strategy for

retirement savings for this segment
of the high-earning workforce.

It compels participants to strategically
forecast their 2026 tax situation based

on their 2025 earnings, impacting year-end
financial planning during November 2025.

The only mechanism for an eligible
high-earner who prefers to maintain

contributions under the Traditional
(pre-tax) model for their catch-up

amount is to adjust their regular
TSP contributions downward, ensuring

their total contributions do not
exceed the elective deferral limit.

This mandatory application of the Roth
structure for catch-up contributions above

the income cap removes the traditional
elective nature of this retirement

decision, requiring high-earning employees
to rapidly calculate their 2025 income

to adjust their 2026 strategy before the
January 1, 2026, change takes effect.

Issues That Affect Retired Federal Workers

For annuitants and those preparing for
retirement, the week focused on the

final administrative details of annual
benefits updates and specific rules

governing the transition from employee
to annuitant status during Open Season.

Annuity Cost-of-Living Adjustments Context

While the official Cost-of-Living
Adjustment (COLA) rates for 2026 were

finalized earlier, the context of those
adjustments remains pertinent as retirees

received their November benefit payments.

For the year 2026, annuitants
under the Civil Service Retirement

System (CSRS) received a 2.5

percent increase, while those under
the Federal Employees Retirement

System (FERS) received a 2.0

percent increase.

Furthermore, annuitants who began
receiving their benefits late in

2024 faced prorated adjustments.

These individuals receive
one-twelfth of the full COLA for

each month they received benefits.

For example, an annuity commencing
on November 30, 2024, would receive

only a fraction of the full 2025
adjustment, a calculation that

governed the final benefit amount
received in this payment cycle.

To receive the full COLA, an
annuity must have commenced no

later than December 31, 2023.

Special Open Season Instructions
for Retiring Employees

A key administrative directive was
issued for federal employees who are

actively transitioning into retirement
status during the current Open Season.

Employees planning to retire prior
to January 1, 2026, must adhere

to a specific protocol for making
their 2026 benefit elections.

The directive emphasizes that these
prospective retirees should not

submit their Open Season changes
through the typical electronic

systems used by active employees.

Instead, to ensure seamless coverage,
they are required to include their

completed benefit election forms (such
as the SF-2809) directly within their

retirement package submission to their
servicing Human Resources office.

This explicit instruction regarding
the submission method reflects

the complex administrative need to
synchronize the end of active employee

health coverage with the commencement
of annuitant health benefits.

The standard benefit implementation
dates, such as the effective date of

January 11, 2026, for FEHB changes,
necessitate this manual process.

Failure to follow this specific
protocol risks confusion, delays,

or errors in the application of 2026
health and dental benefits, especially

critical if the employee is currently
enrolled in a plan that is terminating.

By requiring the forms to be submitted
with the retirement package, OPM ensures

the benefit changes are processed
correctly under the new annuitant status.

Issues That Affect Current Federal Workers

Major Legislative Action:
Defense of Federal Union Rights

The most significant legislative
news of the week occurred on Monday,

November 17, 2025, when Congressman
Jared Golden (Democrat of Maine)

successfully forced floor action
on a critical federal labor bill.

The Protect America's
Workforce Act of 2025

Representative Golden announced that his
bipartisan bill, the Protect America’s

Workforce Act of 2025, had secured the
requisite 218 signatures on a discharge

petition, successfully forcing the House
of Representatives to schedule a vote.

This procedural milestone was achieved
after Republican Congressmen Nick

LaLota (New York) and Mike Lawler (New
York) signed the petition, bringing

the total number of sponsors to 218.

The petition mechanism allows a majority
of the House to force a vote on a

piece of legislation, bypassing the
usual control exerted by the Speaker

of the House and committee chairs.

The bill is designed to nullify an
Executive Order issued on March 27 by the

Trump administration that systematically
stripped collective bargaining rights

from approximately one million unionized
federal employees across various agencies.

Representative Golden asserted that
the strong bipartisan support for the

bill—which included seven Republican
signatories—demonstrated that Congress

would not tolerate executive overreach
seeking to erode the merit-based civil

service and federal labor agreements.

He publicly called on Speaker Mike Johnson
to schedule a clean, up-or-down vote.

The success of the discharge petition
itself is a rare procedural feat,

demonstrating a fundamental, bipartisan
legislative check on executive power.

This action on November 17,
2025, immediately alters the

negotiating dynamic between federal
unions and agency management.

It signals that legislative support for
federal collective bargaining rights

is robust enough to overcome high-level
political resistance, potentially

strengthening the position of federal
unions in ongoing negotiations even before

the bill is formally signed into law.

The forced vote compels political
leaders to take a public stance on

the core principle of federal labor
relations, shifting momentum decisively

in favor of restoring union rights.

OPM’s New Administrative
Enforcement Regime

The U.S.

Office of Personnel Management issued
a series of authoritative memoranda

during the week, indicating a decisive
pivot from simply issuing policy

guidance to establishing a rigorous,
enforceable compliance structure

for key administration priorities.

Governmentwide Studies on DEIA and Return
to Office Compliance (November 19, 2025)

On November 19, 2025, Curt Levey,
Associate Director of Merit System

Accountability and Compliance
(MSAC), issued a memorandum titled

Governmentwide Studies on the
President’s Directives to End Diversity,

Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
Programs, and Return to In-Person Work.

This memo initiated two formal,
government-wide compliance studies

to assess agency efforts in
accordance with statutory authority

and Administration priorities.

The two studies focus on agency
actions (1) to implement the

requirements to end Diversity, Equity,
Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA)

programs, and (2) to have employees
return to in-person work (RTO).

This marks a serious administrative
escalation, moving these directives from

general policy objectives to measurable
compliance mandates subject to formal

audit and oversight by the MSAC.

OPM directed agencies to nominate and
submit the names and email addresses

of two dedicated points-of-contact—one
for DEIA compliance and one for RTO

compliance—by the rapidly approaching
deadline of Wednesday, November 26, 2025.

The urgency of this short
submission timeline indicates high

administrative priority, forcing
agency leadership to prioritize

these directives above other Human
Resources functions during this week.

The immediate implication for the current
workforce is that the RTO directive is now

subject to formal OPM audit and oversight.

This means agencies must swiftly develop
specific metrics and reporting structures

to demonstrate verifiable compliance with
mandated in-office presence requirements.

The MSAC’s involvement signals
OPM’s intention to scrutinize agency

implementation actively, which will
profoundly affect the daily schedules

and telework agreements of current
federal employees as agency leadership

moves to avoid negative audit findings.

Clarification of Manager Personal
Liability (November 21, 2025)

Two days after the launch of
the compliance studies, on

November 21, 2025, Veronica E.

Hinton, Associate Director of the Office
of Workforce Policy and Innovation,

issued a memorandum addressing Personal
Liability for Managers and Supervisors

Conducting Personnel Management Functions.

This memorandum aims to reassure
management officials regarding the risk of

personal financial or legal liability when
executing difficult personnel actions.

OPM clarified that when managers and
supervisors carry out performance

management functions—such as issuing
performance ratings, placing employees

on Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs),
or proposing reductions in grade or

removal for unacceptable performance—they
are acting under the authority and on

behalf of the agency (the employer).

The memo explicitly states that if an
employee challenges a performance-based

action, the United States or the
agency is held responsible, not the

manager in their individual capacity.

In the unusual event a manager is
sued personally for actions within

the scope of their employment, the
Department of Justice typically

provides legal representation.

Furthermore, OPM reiterated that federal
agencies are required by law (Section

642 of Public Law 106-58, as amended) to
reimburse eligible management officials,

including supervisors, for up to one-half
of the cost of professional liability

insurance, providing an important
safeguard against liability concerns.

The timing of this memo is
strategically significant.

By clarifying the agency’s backing and
addressing managerial risk aversion

just as OPM is initiating audits
that will require strict enforcement

of policies like RTO, the agency is
actively removing a major psychological

impediment to aggressive management.

Managers often hesitate to implement
strict adverse actions due to fear of

personal cost from appeals or lawsuits.

By clarifying the agency’s
responsibility, OPM facilitates

stricter enforcement of current federal
policies, particularly regarding

performance and conduct standards.

It is important to note, however, that
managers can still be held responsible

for misuse of authority, specifically
unlawful discrimination, harassment,

or prohibited personnel practices
related to whistleblower protections.

Other Administrative Memos

The week also featured two other notable
administrative updates concerning the

senior ranks of the federal government.

On November 18, 2025,
a memo from Veronica E.

Hinton confirmed the Continued Pay
Freeze for Certain Senior Political

Officials, maintaining existing salary
constraints for non-career leaders.

Additionally, on November 19, 2025, OPM
Director Scott Kupor issued guidance

related to New Senior Executive
Service, Senior Professional, GS-15

and GS-14 Development Programs,
signaling ongoing efforts to restructure

and enhance leadership pipelines
and talent development across the

senior levels of the civil service.

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.

Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your
podcasts, so you never miss an update.

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.