NARFE National Headquarters

10/13/2026

Should you lower your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) contributions before retirement? A 5% contribution can secure the full Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) agency contribution, but that does not necessarily make it the best choice for employees nearing retirement. Here’s what to weigh before changing your contribution rate, from taxes and cash flow to long-term savings.

Read from Tammy Flanagan, NARFE federal benefits expert, on Government Executive:

Getting the full agency match is a good baseline, but if retirement is around the corner there’s more to consider before deciding what to do with the rest of your paycheck.

10/13/2026

The FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested another suspected co-conspirator of the ShinyHunters hacking group, director Kash Patel announced on Friday.

"Our agents in the field have arrested another suspected co-conspirator of the ShinyHunters group – the group believed to be responsible for the recent FBIjobs.gov incident, which occurred on a platform managed by a third-party vendor," according to Patel.

Read more on ABC News: https://abcnews.com/Politics/suspect-arrested-fbi-hack-exposed-employee-information/story?id=137134928

The hack exposed personal information from thousands of bureau employees.

10/13/2026

When Harmeet Dhillon took over as the new chief of the The United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division last April, the conservative attorney vowed to radically reshape the storied unit and its mission.

Over the past 18 months, Dhillon has moved aggressively to make that goal a reality. She has pushed out hundreds of longtime attorneys, replaced many of them with inexperienced ideological allies, and used the division's enforcement powers to pursue President Trump's MAGA agenda, according to four current and former division officials.

Three of the individuals spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution.

Read more on NPR:

Harmeet Dhillon has pushed out hundreds of longtime attorneys, replaced many with inexperienced ideological allies, and used the division's enforcement powers to pursue the president's agenda.

10/13/2026

Each year, many current and future Social Security beneficiaries wait eagerly for news of the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. In most years, a COLA results in an increase to monthly Social Security payments.

While this number can impact seniors' finances, it's actually not the increase that most people should focus on. Instead, there's a much more meaningful one that could affect retirees' finances in profound ways. This is the increase retirees should focus on earning if they can.

Read more on USA TODAY:

Many seniors focus on the COLA, but there's another increase that will make a bigger difference for their finances.

10/13/2026

A House Democrat wants to push back against difficulties federal employees have faced when requesting opportunities to telework.

The Federal Telework Protection Act, which Congressman Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) introduced this month, seeks to standardize the telework request process across the federal workforce.

Under the legislation, federal employees would submit telework requests to their immediate supervisor, who would then have to consider factors like job duties, medical conditions, caregiving, disabilities and commuting time when approving or denying requests.

Read "House bill seeks to standardize federal telework request process" on Federal News Network: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/congress/2026/10/house-bill-seeks-to-standardize-federal-telework-request-process/

10/13/2026

Trump-era staff reductions have significantly hampered enforcement at the CFTC - U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and its ability to regulate burgeoning new prediction and cryptocurrency markets, where hundreds of billions are traded each week.

By the end of 2025, the CFTC had 21% fewer staff on its payroll when compared to the previous 10-year average, according to U.S. Office of Personnel Management data.

Read more on NPR:

Even as the agency is tasked with drawing up new rules for crypto and prediction markets, its staffing and enforcement actions have dropped precipitously during the second Trump administration.

10/13/2026

Speaking outside of a job fair at a Northern Virginia Community College campus last Thursday, Congressman Don Beyer, D-Va., said that “a lot of people have landed” since the Trump administration last year pushed hundreds of thousands of employees out of the civil service through layoffs, firings and separation incentives.

“But there's sadly been a persistent subset that has been very difficult to find a job that matches their skill set,” the congressman told Government Executive. “For example, foreign service officers and people that worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development [which the Trump administration shuttered], they have a unique skill — helping children not get malaria, or feeding kids or doing family planning in sub-Saharan Africa. There's not a lot of use for that in metropolitan Washington, D.C.”

The job fair, which was co-hosted by Beyer’s office, the city of Alexandria, Arlington County and several other nonprofits and state and local government agencies, is an example of ongoing initiatives to re-employ workers who lost their jobs as the Trump administration slashed agency workforces.

Read more on Government Executive:

Workforce officials and lawmakers say some of the employees pushed out of government last year are still struggling to find work that matches their skills.

10/12/2026

Today we recognize the rich cultures and contributions of Indigenous Peoples.

10/09/2026

Retirement calendars can be helpful, but they don't tell the whole story. Choosing when to retire involves a series of tradeoffs that can affect your benefits long after you leave federal service.

"The rule of thumb under FERS, first of all is just to go towards the end of the month," said Tammy Flanagan, NARFE federal benefits expert.

Read more and listen to Tammy on Federal News Network: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/retirement/2026/10/those-best-days-to-retire-calendars-are-showing-up-again/