OPM sees 12,000 new retirement claims in April

Currently, digital retirement claims are also being processed in about two-thirds the time of traditional paper applications.

Michele Sandiford

May 8, 2026 2:50 pm

< a min read

Nearly 12,000 new retirement claims entered the Office of Personnel Management’s systems last month. Coupled with OPM’s processing of about 17,000 retirement applications, the agency managed to reduce its inventory by several thousand claims. April was the first time OPM’s retirement backlog has dipped below 50,000 claims in more than five months. Currently, digital retirement claims are also being processed in about two-thirds the time of traditional paper applications.
The Social Security Administration has increased online transactions by 20% over the last year. It also cut the initial disability claims backlog by 33% and decreased disability hearing wait times by 40%. These are among the accomplishments SSA highlighted on the one year anniversary of Commissioner Frank Bisignano taking over the agency. These improvements also came with 11,000 fewer employees. SSA says among its priorities for this year and beyond is to improve the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. The agency appointed a dedicated leader and launched an SSI Improvement Team to streamline processes, support recipients and reduce improper payments. A federal judge in New York found the Department of Government Efficiency’s AI-driven mass termination of humanities grants last year was unlawful. The U.S. District Court judge is ordering the National Endowment for the Humanities to rescind its termination letters for 1,400 grants worth more than $100 million. The judge finds DOGE members used ChatGPT to target grants promoting diversity, equity and inclusion but did not specify how they defined those terms.]]>

Three-quarters of USDA researchers tapped to relocate tell their union they’re not going. For the second time in six years, USDA is looking to move D.C. area employees at the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to Kansas City. About 85% of impacted employees decided to quit or retire rather than relocate under the first Trump administration. A local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees says 76% of affected employees say they won’t move to Kansas City this time around. Democrats are urging the Office of Personnel Management not to shut down the Combined Federal Campaign. In a letter to OPM this week, lawmakers warned that ending the CFC would be “disastrous” for hospitals, food banks and other organizations that receive charitable donations through the program. OPM recently decommissioned the CFC’s online donation portal, but the agency has not yet confirmed whether the program will be officially dismantled this year. CFC has been in operation since the Reagan administration, a program that lets federal employees contribute to charities around the world.A group of Republican lawmakers is urging Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to implement a stalled rule that would allow individuals to carry firearms and other weapons on land managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. The lawmakers said that constituents in their districts who “enjoy recreational activities on Corps-managed land have reached out to express concerns over this restriction.” They said millions of acres of Corps-managed property, including campgrounds, trails and waterways, remain subject to restrictions and don’t allow individuals to carry a firearm for self-defense purposes. The lawmakers argued that Corps-managed lands remain an “outlier” among federal agencies because they still broadly prohibit firearms, unlike the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Finalizing the rule, the lawmakers said, would “promote clarity and uniformity.”
OMB picked a long-time federal technology manager to take over as the deputy federal CIO. Thomas Flagg is set to assume that role. Federal News Network has learned that Federal CIO Greg Barbaccia made the announcement to agency CIOs yesterday. Flagg, who is the Education Department CIO, will replace Drew Mykelgard, who left in September to join the private sector after three-plus years in the role. Barbaccia wrote in his email that Flagg stood out among a large number of candidates because of the depth and seriousness of his experience across multiple technology leadership roles. Flagg also worked at the Labor Department for 11 years before moving to Education in 2025. Military spouses want Congress to pass the Military Spouse Small Business Recognition Act, a bill designed to expand access to capital and Small Business Administration resources for military spouse entrepreneurs. More than 50 military spouse-owned businesses met with lawmakers and congressional staff on Thursday to advocate for legislation that seeks to designate military spouse-owned businesses as a disadvantaged category under the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program. The designation would reduce borrowing costs for military spouse entrepreneurs by waiving SBA loan guarantee fees for loans up to $1 million. It would also reduce equity injection requirements by at least 5%. In addition, the legislation would require the SBA to track and report data on military spouse participation in SBA loan programs.
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