The FED Weekly

The FED Weekly 14-20 Jun 2026 (Episode 55)
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[00:00:00] Weekly Briefing Intro
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Welcome to The FED Weekly for 14-20 June 2026, 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.

[00:00:44]  Issues That Affect Current and Retired Federal Workers
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Issues That Affect Current and Retired Federal Workers

We begin a major regulatory overhaul of the health benefit enrollment process. On Tuesday, 16 June 2026, the Office of Personnel Management published a final [00:01:00] rule in the Federal Register implementing strict new verification requirements for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and the Postal Service Health Benefits Program. This rule represents the administrative execution of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Protection Act, a statutory measure enacted by Congress to address escalating enrollment costs.

The policy shift is a direct response to a 2022 Government Accountability Office investigation, which concluded that the federal government could be spending upwards of one billion dollars annually to cover family members and former spouses who no longer qualify as dependents under existing law. Starting on 1 July 2026, newly enrolled dependents—specifically spouses and children—will face rigorous eligibility verification. Under the new process, employing offices and the Office of Personnel Management are authorized to immediately disenroll any family member if the associated [00:02:00] federal employee or retiree fails to provide adequate documentation.

To verify eligibility, parents of adult dependents under the age of twenty-six may submit their children's federal tax returns. In cases involving adult disabled dependents, a formal medical certification establishing that the individual is permanently incapable of self-support will be required. If an individual is disenrolled under these provisions, the federal worker or retiree has a sixty-day window to request a formal administrative reconsideration, the outcome of which is final and binding.

The Office of Personnel Management confirmed that while these rules target new enrollments, the agency is simultaneously preparing for the next phase of the statute, which is a comprehensive retrospective audit of all existing enrollments to identify and remove ineligible participants.

[00:02:55] Premium Hikes And Plan Changes
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This verification crackdown occurs in a climate of severe financial pressure for [00:03:00] program participants. Active and retired federal workers enrolled in the health program will pay an average of 12.3 percent more in premiums in 2026, following a historic 13.5 percent average increase in 2025. Postal Service Health Benefits enrollees will see an average increase of 11.3 percent across seventy-five plan options from seventeen carriers. Dental premiums under the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program will increase by an average of 3.3 percent, while vision premiums will rise by 0.5 percent.

Six health plans will be completely eliminated from the program, and coverage for pediatric transgender surgeries or hormone treatments for gender transition will be excluded starting in 2026. Furthermore, health plans will no longer be required to clarify or update specific obesity management benefits. The timing of these hikes has been [00:04:00] particularly difficult for families, as the rate increases were announced in October 2025 when many federal workers were on unpaid furlough during a forty-three-day government shutdown.

Observers note that the Office of Personnel Management's staff reductions have directly contributed to these rising costs, as the agency has lost approximately one-third of its workforce over the past year, leaving fewer personnel to manage the program and negotiate competitive rates with dozens of health insurers.

[00:04:32] Negative Net Annuities Crisis
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The real-world consequences of these rising health insurance premiums have manifested in a growing administrative crisis known as negative net annuities. Reports compiled by the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association for the week of 8 June 2026, and updated on 16 June 2026, reveal that a growing number of surviving spouses are experiencing a net-negative pension situation. This [00:05:00] occurs when the survivor's monthly annuity is smaller than the monthly health insurance premium deducted for their coverage.

To prevent a total lapse in health coverage, affected survivors are being forced to navigate complex administrative channels to set up direct premium billing with the National Finance Center. This issue is exacerbated by systemic processing backlogs at the Office of Personnel Management, which has struggled to process health insurance changes made during the 2025 Open Season. OPM's primary call center remains entirely unreachable for many, forcing advocacy organizations to distribute emergency contact checklists and alternative submission methods to prevent families from losing their coverage.

[00:05:45] JAWBONE Act And Free Speech
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To close out this section, we turn to Congress, where bipartisan concerns over government communication with private technology platforms have culminated in the introduction of the Justice Against Weaponized Bureaucratic Overreach to Networked [00:06:00] Expression Act, also known as the JAWBONE Act. Introduced by Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the legislation aims to protect the First Amendment rights of both civil servants and the public.

The JAWBONE Act establishes a new federal cause of action, allowing individuals to sue government officials in federal court if those officials attempt to coerce, pressure, or threaten private entities—such as broadcasters, interactive computer services, or artificial intelligence providers—to censor or suppress lawful, protected online speech. This legislation addresses a practice known as "jawboning," wherein the executive branch utilizes its regulatory leverage to bypass constitutional limits on censorship. This bill is inspired by recent cases like Joshua Aaron’s ICEBlock application, which was coerced off the Apple App Store in October 2025 under executive pressure.

The Supreme Court's [00:07:00] Netchoice rulings recently affirmed that social media platforms have their own First Amendment rights to curate speech, and the JAWBONE Act aims to ensure the government cannot dictate how private sites edit content.

[00:07:13]  Issues That Affect Retired Federal Workers
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Issues That Affect Retired Federal Workers

Now let us turn to the specific legislative and regulatory changes affecting our retired federal workforce. First and foremost, retirees continue to bear the brunt of operational backlogs at the Office of Personnel Management. Reports compiled during the week of 8 June 2026, and updated on 16 June 2026, indicate that processing delays for new retirement applications frequently exceed three months. While waiting for their files to clear, new retirees are forced to live on partial interim payments that are often far below their actual entitlement, causing significant household budgeting strains.

Compounding this backlog is a rise in retirement [00:08:00] calculation errors, with retirees reporting that OPM has miscalculated their final high-three salary average or misapplied their length-of-service credits, resulting in permanently reduced pension offers that require lengthy administrative appeals to rectify.

[00:08:16] TSP Modernization Bill
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For retirees looking to manage their investments more efficiently, help may be on the way via H.R. 9214, the Thrift Savings Plan Modernization Act. This bill, introduced by Representative Mike Bost on 9 June 2026, and actively discussed during the week of 18 June 2026, currently carries twenty-one bipartisan cosponsors. It would require the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to modernize its transaction infrastructure by permitting electronic transfers of funds from a participant's Thrift Savings Plan account directly to a qualified private retirement plan, such as an Individual Retirement Account at a private brokerage firm.

[00:09:00] Under existing rules, moving funds out of the Thrift Savings Plan often requires slow, paper-based transactions and the physical mailing of paper checks, which can result in significant market-exposure lag and administrative delays. H.R. 9214 mandates that these electronic options be fully operational starting one year after the bill is signed into law, provided that the participant provides the necessary electronic routing and brokerage account details.

[00:09:29]  Issues That Affect Current Federal Workers
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Issues That Affect Current Federal Workers

[00:09:32] Article II Firings En Banc Appeal
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Moving into the judicial arena, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a rare and historic order on Wednesday, 17 June 2026, agreeing to hear an appeal challenging the Trump administration's "Article II" removal policies en banc. Circuit courts typically hear cases using randomized three-judge panels, reserving a full-bench en banc review for cases of the highest national and constitutional significance. [00:10:00] The lawsuit, brought by former Justice Department employees Megan Jackler and Brandon Jaroch, serves as a direct test of the administration’s claim that it possesses unchecked constitutional authority to bypass statutory civil service protections.

Jackler and Jaroch were removed from their positions as federal immigration judges in 2025. The Justice Department cited Article II of the Constitution as the sole justification for their terminations, arguing that these positions are exempt from standard civil service termination guidelines. While an administrative law judge initially overturned the firings, the Merit Systems Protection Board reversed that decision in March 2026. In a sweeping ruling, the board relinquished its own jurisdiction over cases where agencies cite constitutional authority, holding that "inferior officers" who perform limited duties and have no policy-making authority can be removed at-will.

[00:11:00] In their appeal to the Federal Circuit, attorneys for the fired judges argue that the board's decision misconstrues decades of judicial precedent. They contend that the board misapplied a passing remark in the Supreme Court's decision in Seila Law to create an unauthorized, two-tiered system for inferior officers. By restricting civil service protections, the board's decision effectively stripped hundreds of career employees of their statutory protections. This appeal carries significant weight, as hundreds of Justice Department workers have been subjected to "Article II firings" since Trump returned to office, and has drawn supporting friend-of-the-court briefs from employee unions, Democratic lawmakers, and the MSPB workers' professional association.

[00:11:47] USAJobs Essay Questions Lawsuit
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A parallel legal battle over the politicization of the civil service intensified on Monday, 15 June 2026, when a coalition of federal employee unions filed an emergency writ of [00:12:00] mandamus with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The coalition—comprising the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the National Association of Government Employees—is seeking to force District Judge George O'Toole to issue a ruling on their preliminary injunction motion, which has languished since a formal hearing on 11 March 2026.

The underlying lawsuit, filed last November against OPM, challenges the four essay questions, including one requiring applicants to state their favorite Trump policy, on all USAJobs.gov listings. The unions argue this serves as an unconstitutional political litmus test that violates the First Amendment. While OPM has repeatedly insisted that the questions are optional and are not scored, the unions presented evidence showing that applicants are technically blocked from submitting their resumes unless they provide answers in the essay [00:13:00] boxes.

The writ of mandamus highlights the explosive scale of this policy: when the lawsuit was first filed in November, the question appeared on approximately 5,800 job listings. By December, that number rose to 8,500, and by late April, it surpassed 33,000. Currently, nearly 48,000 active job postings on USAJobs feature these essay questions. The unions argue that every day the court delays its ruling, applicants suffer irreparable constitutional injury by being forced to either voice allegiance to the administration's political agenda or abandon their aspirations of entering public service.

[00:13:41] Agency Relocations And Costs
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Compounding the telework frustration is the chaotic physical office relocation of these agencies. The NSF is currently relocating to a new building that is close to its former headquarters in Alexandria. The former NSF headquarters is being taken over by the Housing and Urban Development [00:14:00] Department, which began transferring its workforce to Alexandria during the week of 13 March 2026.

The move of HUD staff represents a significant delay from its original phase-one plan, which was slated to begin on 18 December 2025. HUD's current headquarters, the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, faces more than five hundred million dollars in deferred maintenance and modernization needs, prompting its sale. However, the relocation has been plagued by internet readiness issues, forcing employees who have already transferred to use personal mobile hotspots to work.

Financially, the NSF relocation cost twenty-six point two million dollars, while HUD's cost estimates rose by forty percent due to paying out a fifty-seven million dollar long-term liability on the Weaver building. These rising costs prompted Kirsten Gillibrand, Jack Reed, and Chris Van Hollen to request a GAO investigation into HUD's decision-making. [00:15:00] AFGE Local 476, representing HUD workers, accused leadership of moving forward without money or a plan, while dismissing employee commuting and caregiving concerns.

[00:15:11] VA Package And Worker Protections
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The American Federation of Government Employees is urging Congress to reject the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, a massive legislative package containing over sixty bills introduced as H.R. 9237 and S. 4744. While Congressional Republicans argue the bill will streamline operations and expand healthcare access, federal employee unions and veterans' advocacy groups warn it contains provisions that strip employee protections and cut earned benefits.

Specifically, the bill contains a provision that would reclassify approximately five thousand VA psychologists from their current hybrid personnel status to the Title 38 personnel system. Under Title 38, employees are statutorily barred from collective bargaining over matters of [00:16:00] "direct patient care," a restriction the VA interprets broadly to block negotiations over basic workplace issues like scheduling, promotions, and pay errors. Reclassifying psychologists would prevent them from utilizing negotiated grievance processes, which Kelley warns will cripple the VA's ability to recruit and retain mental health professionals.

Furthermore, the bill seeks to expand the Veterans Community Care Program, which labor groups describe as a step toward privatization. To fund these changes, the bill implements sixty billion dollars in offsets by altering the VA rating schedules for common combat-associated conditions, specifically reducing disability compensation for tinnitus and obstructive sleep apnea. The Veterans of Foreign Wars strongly opposes the legislation, while Democrats, led by Representative Mark Takano of California, have labeled the package a partisan distraction.

Takano is currently leading a discharge petition [00:17:00] for the standalone, bipartisan Major Richard Star Act (H.R. 2102 and S. 1032), which would allow combat-injured early retirees to concurrently receive both their full military retired pay and VA disability compensation. As of June 2026, the discharge petition sits at 214 signatures, just five short of the 218 needed to force a clean vote on the House floor.

[00:17:26] VA Hiring Speed Changes
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Additionally, the Department of Veterans Affairs is attempting to speed up its general hiring timelines. Under a newly announced agreement, the department can proceed with the next steps of the hiring process within just three days of posting a job announcement, a dramatic reduction from the previous standard of fifteen days. While NFFE General Counsel Jeff Friday noted that this agreement should shorten the overall hiring process by at least a few weeks, the VA retains the option to extend posting periods beyond three days or [00:18:00] reissue postings as needed to secure qualified candidates.

[00:18:03] CISA Cuts And Cybersecurity Bill
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In a formal letter dated Tuesday, 16 June 2026, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner expressed grave concern over the Trump administration's dramatic staffing and funding reductions at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Warner criticized the administration's decision to defund the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center and slash over seven hundred million dollars from CISA's proposed fiscal year 2027 budget.

To counter these cuts, Warner introduced the Guaranteeing Universal Access to Cybersecurity Act, designed to restore vital information-sharing and threat-analysis resources. While CISA's acting director, Nick Andersen, announced a current push to extend approximately two hundred job offers to rebuild regional capacity, Warner warned that these efforts are wholly insufficient to address the massive [00:19:00] security gaps created by consecutive rounds of workforce reductions.

[00:19:04] Other Workforce Updates
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Additionally, active federal employees are tracking broader workforce updates, including testimony delivered on Monday, 15 June 2026, by AFGE Council 220 President Jessica LaPointe. LaPointe spoke on Capitol Hill about the interconnected crises undermining the Social Security Administration, focusing on severe understaffing and declining service quality.

In the defense sector, the House Armed Services Committee approved an amendment to the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act that would restore collective bargaining rights at the Department of Defense, while simultaneously rejecting an amendment that would have lifted the longstanding moratorium on privatizing federal jobs through OMB A-76 procedures.

[00:19:53] Closing And Next Week
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And that’s a wrap on this week’s Federal Workforce Roundup. The landscape for federal employees and retirees [00:20:00] 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.