Federal retirement claim processing times increase

OPM’s backlog of retirement claims dropped by 2,000 to 24,300.

September 9, 2025 2:39 pm

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Federal employees, on average, are waiting longer to see their retirement applications processed. New data from the Office of Personnel Management for August shows it takes an average of 70 days to process a claim from a retiring fed. But if retirement claims are coming to OPM in less than 60 days, those cases take, on average, 45 days to complete. At the same time, OPM received more than 9,400 retirement claims last month. OPM’s backlog of retirement claims dropped by 2,000 to 24,300. The Defense Department is onboard with standardizing the definition of foreign risks in the SBIR program. The Pentagon is reviewing its process to determine risks associated with foreign ownership, control or influence of companies in the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. DoD told Senator Joni Ernst that it would take these steps in response to her report from May that found six examples of companies in the SBIR program that may pose a security risk from China or another foreign influence. The Pentagon said its review found five of the six companies were considered low risk. But DoD said standardizing the foreign ownership, control or influence due diligence process would mitigate potential future confusion or problems.With Congress facing yet another government funding deadline in three weeks, two lawmakers are trying, once again, to avoid this type of problem in the future. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington’s (R-Texas) Prevent Government Shutdowns Act would take government shutdowns off the table and force Congress to stay in town until their work is done. Upon a lapse in government funding, the bill would implement an automatic continuing resolution (CR), on rolling 14-day periods, based on the most current spending levels enacted in the previous fiscal year. Lankford has introduced a version of this bill every session of Congress since 2019, but it has not advanced far.A federal appeals court is dismissing a case led by a group of states challenging the Trump administration’s mass firing of probationary federal employees. Attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia filed the lawsuit in March, arguing that widespread firings at many agencies led to a sharp increase in unemployment claims. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said those claims aren’t enough to challenge the federal government’s ability to manage the size of its workforce. The appeals court is sending the case back to a lower court, with instructions to dismiss the case. The lawsuit estimates agencies fired 24,000 probationary employees.The amount of international mail coming into the United States has fallen off considerably since the Trump administration’s new tariffs took effect. The United Nations’ Universal Postal Union said international mail volume fell by more than 80% once a tariff exemption for small packages went into effect late last month. Nearly 90 postal operators across the world have suspended some or all services to the United States for now. The volume drop could impact the U.S. Postal Service, which expects to end fiscal 2025 with a nearly $7 billion net loss. The Department of the Air Force’s new network of the future strategy details how the service plans to deliver a resilient and adaptive encrypted network. The plan calls for a unified integrated digital infrastructure that balances security with flexibility. It emphasizes investments in artificial intelligence, edge computing, 5G communications and advanced cybersecurity. Officials said the strategy will “serve as the backbone for seamless connectivity, real-time data sharing, and rapid decision-making across all domains” to give warfighters access to data they need anywhere, anytime.Derek Tournear, who has been with the Space Development Agency for over six years, is leaving the federal government for academia. He joined Auburn University in Alabama as its inaugural director of space innovation, but he will be based in Auburn’s Washington, D.C., office. Tournear became SDA’s first permanent director in 2019. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo, who has been the agency’s deputy director, will serve in the acting director role. Tournear’s departure adds to a growing wave of departures among senior Pentagon leaders. Federal Emergency Management Agency employees who signed a public dissent letter said FEMA is illegally retaliating against them. Lawyers representing three dozen FEMA staff who were put on administrative leave last week allege that the agency’s actions violate whistleblower protection laws. The employees put their names on the Katrina Declaration, a letter that said the Trump administration’s changes have left FEMA unprepared to manage a major disaster. Their complaint argues the declaration contained multiple protected disclosures. The employees hope to be reinstated to their positions. After two decades and more than $262 million in spending, the Department of Homeland Security still hasn’t finished efforts to modernize and consolidate its human resources IT systems. That’s according to a new Government Accountability Office report. GAO found DHS still uses more than 80 disparate HR systems and tools. The department’s 260,000 employees continue to have multiple accounts, logins and passwords. GAO is recommending DHS come up with a new strategy and goals for HRIT modernization.
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Federal retirement claim processing times increase

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