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 youâre 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 2018â2019 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 Actâs 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
accountsâ91 percent, totaling 2.5
million casesâhad 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 ratesâauthority typically reserved
for addressing recruitment or retention problems in specific, high-cost, or
undesirable rolesâto 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 Presidentâs 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 thatâs a wrap on this weekâs 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.
Weâll be back next week to track the latest developments
and what they mean for you.
Until then, stay engaged and be well.