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.

During the week of June 10, FMA National President Craig Carter and Director of Government Affairs Greg Stanford met with staff from the offices of Senators and Representatives on both sides of the aisle on behalf of the association. Issues that came up most frequently were the potential return of Schedule F, efforts to make retirement benefits for FERS retirees more fair, and telework in the federal workforce.

On Tuesday, June 11, Carter met with Senator Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) staff, a key member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA), who represents the Naval Submarine Base-King’s Bay, Representative Scott Peters (D-CA) whose district includes Naval Aviation Depot- San Diego, and Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

After two years of reasonable pay raises – 5.2 percent in 2024 and 4.6 percent in 2023 – all signs point to a 2.0 percent raise for federal employees in 2025. The latest signifier is the Fiscal Year 2025 spending bill for Financial Services and General Government which stayed silent on the issue of a pay raise, in effect endorsing President Biden’s request for a 2.0 percent raise. The uniformed military is slated to receive a 4.5 percent raise for 2025. FMA supports the 4.5 percent raise for active military and will push for pay parity for feds. Federal employees work side-by-side with their uniformed military colleagues and there is no excuse for failing to reward them evenly.

Federal pay has not kept pace with inflation, and retention of feds is at a severe risk. The Federal Salary Council reported in 2023 that federal workers earned more than 27 percent less than private sector counterparts, a growing disparity that will only force more of the best and brightest out of federal service.

The House of Representatives is continuing its efforts on the appropriations process for Fiscal Year 2025, trying to advance all 12 FY25 spending bills prior to breaking for the August recess. The House has passed four bills thus far, including three on Friday, June 28, and has taken significant steps to prepare multiple other funding bills for consideration on the House floor. However, to date, the bills face an uphill climb with concerns lingering in the U.S. Senate and veto threats from the White House.

The House has passed the following appropriations bills:

• Military Construction-VA bill (H.R. 8580), by a vote of 209-197
• Defense appropriations (H.R. 8774) by a vote of 271-198
• Homeland Security (H.R. 8752) by a vote of 212-203
• Department of State-Foreign Operations (H.R. 8771) by a vote of 212-200

President Biden issued a veto threat for all of these spending bills, as passed by the House, based on funding levels and policy disagreements.

The House of Representatives passed the Servicemember Quality of Life Investment Act and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025 (H.R. 8070) on June 14. The bill passed by a vote of 217-199, despite passing out of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) by a resounding bipartisan vote of 57-1 weeks earlier.

“There is no investment more important than the one we make in the men and women who serve in our All-Volunteer Force,” HASC Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) said in a statement upon final passage. “We cannot kick the can down the road when it comes to providing for our servicemembers. Today, the House voted to increase pay for junior enlisted servicemembers by 19.5%, improve unaccompanied housing, expand servicemember access to childcare and healthcare, and support military spouses. Our servicemembers are the bedrock of our national security, strengthening our military starts by ensuring our servicemembers are taken care of.”

The effort to repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision (GPO/WEP) – an FMA issue brief – continues to be a major issue in the 118th Congress. FMA supports the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82/ S. 597), legislation that would repeal both provisions. Reps. Garret Graves (R-LA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) are the lead sponsors of the House bill, while Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced the Senate version. Neither Reps. Graves nor Spanberger will return to Washington, D.C., in the 119th Congress.

H.R 82 now has 322 cosponsors and is the second-most cosponsored bill in the 118th Congress. S. 597 now has 58 cosponsors. Legislators are continuing to work to find ways to lower the cost for this overdue repeal. Earlier this week, Rep. Graves published a video outlining his strategy for moving forward on the issue, and you can view that video here. FMA is working closely with his office.

The Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) Council recently released its annual report to Congress, covering 2023. The CHCO Council, created in 2003, is the “principal interagency forum to advise and coordinate the activities of the agencies of its members on such matters as modernization of human resources systems, improved quality of human resources information, and legislation affecting human resources operations and organizations.”

The annual report details the CHCO Council’s efforts during 2023, working on priorities including the Future of the Workforce, Elevating Human Resources, Human Capital Data, Employee Engagement, and Recruitment and Outreach. The council met to discuss topics such as IT special pay rates, program evaluation, work environment, FEVS results, and more, in addition to its regular monthly meetings in 2023. FMA Director of Government and Public Affairs Greg Stanford attended the CHCO Council’s annual public meeting in December 2023.

Are you approaching retirement? The Office of Personnel Management website offers a Retirement Quick Guide that shares what feds can expect as they navigate the retirement application process, how benefits are determined, and guidelines related to their interim and annuity payments. You can also view a three-page printable PDF version of the quick guide here: https://www.opm.gov/retirement-center/retirement-quick-guide/opm-retirement-quick-guide.pdf.

On Thursday, July 18, at 8:00 PM Eastern, FMA National President Craig Carter and Director of Government Affairs Greg Stanford will host a virtual town hall to discuss how you can actively help advance FMA’s legislative agenda during the traditional August recess. We will talk about how you can connect with your elected representatives and their staff in their district and state offices, as well as current events impacting federal managers.

A link for all FMA members to join the virtual town hall will be emailed closer to the event.