This report provides an update on issues affecting federal managers. As always, I encourage you to visit www.fedmanagers.org on a regular basis for more information on these and other matters.

Also, be sure to look for the monthly FMA Grassroots Update where we offer links to action letters and FMA-PAC matters we do not address in the Washington Report. The grassroots newsletter is sent exclusively to non-governmental email addresses to avoid any Hatch Act violations. If you are not receiving it, contact the national office to provide your non-governmental email address.

Please feel free to provide feedback any time by emailing Greg Stanford at gstanford@fedmanagers.org, or by calling the National Office at (703) 683-8700. Thank you for your membership in FMA. It’s an honor to represent your interests before Congress and the administration.

On November 12, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 222-209 on a bill providing full-year appropriations for several agencies and temporary funding via a continuing resolution (CR) for the remaining agencies through January 30, 2026. President Trump signed the bill into law to end the current lapse in funding and the longest government shutdown in United States history.

All federal employees, including excepted and those furloughed during the shutdown – received back pay thanks to the Government Employees Fair Treatment Act – a 2019 law signed by President Trump. Reductions in Force (RIFs) are paused through January 2026, as well.

“FMA is relieved the House followed the Senate’s lead to end this disastrous government shutdown,” Carter wrote. “There are no winners in a government shutdown. It is a lose-lose proposition, and simply bad governing. Like every other shutdown, this recent lapse in funding has long-term, tangible, irreparable negative effects, not just on dutiful federal managers and their families, but for every American who relies on the services they provide.”

On December 2, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee favorably reported the Federal Supervisor Education Act (H.R. 5810), sponsored by Rep. William Timmons (R-SC), by a unanimous vote of 43-0. Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA) offered an amendment to the bill that was adopted, leading to the unanimous vote of support. The bill is cleared for consideration by the full House of Representatives. Improving supervisor training has long been an FMA legislative priority.

“Agencies promote strong technical employees into supervisory jobs, and then send them in blind,” Timmons said during consideration of the bill in the committee markup. “That leads to low productivity, uneven standards and a system where good employees feel unsupported and bad employees rarely face consequences.”

Rep. Walkinshaw spoke in favor of the bill, as well. “I am a strong supporter of the goal of this legislation,” Walkinshaw said. “Almost all of the language will provide supervisors within the federal workforce the appropriate training and resources to ensure there are strong leaders within their respective agencies.”

Lawmakers expect to release the final text of a compromise bill for the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the coming days, ironing out differences between the House and Senate. Details of the final negotiations are currently unavailable, including the top-line amount of total spending to be authorized. The House-passed version (H.R. 3838) included $882.6 billion, equaling the total requested by President Trump. The Senate-passed version (S. 2296) adds $31.3 billion on top of that amount. Negotiators must reconcile that number and agree on identical language before the bill can advance for a final vote in each chamber.

The House of Representatives advanced H.R. 3838 on September 10 by a vote of 231-196. The Senate passed its version on October 9 by a vote of 77-20. The annual NDAA was first passed in 1961, and Congress has successfully passed the measure every year since.

The open enrollment season for 2026 Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, including health benefits, dental and vision insurance, and flexible spending accounts, runs through December 8, 2025. Act now to make changes to your enrollment next year!

The average enrollee share increase for 2026 is 12.3 percent. This is down slightly from last year’s increase in the enrollee share (13.5 percent in 2025). The overall average FEHB premium increase is 10.2 percent. The new health premiums go into effect in January 2026.

As you may know, FEHB premiums are shared by you and your agency. You generally pay approximately 30 percent of the total cost, and your agency pays the remaining 70 percent. The full set of rate charts for 2026 is available here.

Federal employees will see a 1 percent pay raise in 2026, assuming Congress endorses President Trump’s alternative pay plan. On Friday, August 29, President Trump sent an alternative pay plan to Congress, calling for a 1 percent raise for the federal workforce in 2026. President Trump still needs to send an executive order to finalize the pay raise by the end of this month to enact the 1 percent raise.

When the proposed raise was first announced, FMA National President Craig Carter said, “A one percent raise is better than nothing, and given the lack of discussion about pay all year we had been bracing for a pay freeze. Regrettably, a one percent pay raise is nowhere near the rising inflation levels. And it would ensure feds would fall even further behind their private sector counterparts when it comes to compensation, when feds already make almost 25 percent less.”

FMA strongly supports the 3.8 percent raise for the uniformed military, and argues federal employees deserve the traditional, long-established pay parity with military service members.

The Cost-of-Living-Adjustment (COLA) for social security benefits and Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) retirement annuities in 2026 will be 2.8 percent. This will take effect in January.

The annual COLA is meant to keep federal retirees’ and Social Security recipients’ benefits on pace with rising inflation. The 2026 CSRS retiree COLA is based on the third quarter (July, August, September) average CPI-W index in 2025 over the 2024 third quarter average.

Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) retirees will therefore receive a 2 percent COLA in 2026, based on federal law. The current calculations are as follows:

On November 21, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memo titled, “Personal Liability for Managers and Supervisors Conducting Personnel Management Functions.” The memo outlines the backup support OPM and the administration will provide for managers and supervisors as they carry out performance management, saying they have an “extremely limited scope” of personal liability as they manage their employees’ job performance, including addressing unacceptable performance.

To read the full memo, click here.

Around 317,000 federal employees left government service this year, and 68,000 joined, according to a recent blog post by Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Scott Kupor. This exceeds the number Kupor expected (300,000) by the end of 2025.

“President Trump recently issued an executive order directing executive agency heads to submit annual headcount plans to OPM and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).” Kupor wrote. “This is an important step in ensuring the government is working on behalf of the American people, focused on the most important objectives with maximum efficiency.”

FMA's 88^th National Convention & Management Training Seminar will be held March 22 - 25, 2026, at the Hilton Alexandria Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia. The theme this year is Managing Through Difficult Times and registration is now open. The hotel is conveniently located across the street from the King Street Metro Station and near the FMA National Office.

You can also make your hotel reservations now. For the most up-to-date information, including the convention agenda, visit FMA's convention page regularly.

In August 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) officially cancelled the 2025 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS). The annual FEVS, mandated by law, is a snapshot poll survey gauging employee engagement, morale, and more in the federal workforce.

We at FMA are partnering with the Partnership for Public Service to help distribute the Public Service Viewpoint Survey, which they are administering in the absence of a 2025 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and other federal staff surveys. We believe gathering data on the federal employee experience at this critical time for the civil service is of the utmost importance and want to ensure that, as one of our members, you are aware of this opportunity to share your experience through this survey. If you have already completed the survey, thank you.

Please use the link below to access the survey:

https://surveys.ourpublicservice.org/s3/PSVS-UA