UPDATED: House Republican leaders have dropped a plan to require about half of federal employees to begin paying more toward their future retirement benefits as they prepare to bring their budget “reconciliation” bill to floor vote this week.
In other moves designed to attract the votes of several more moderate Republicans who had objected to what they had termed as changing the rules of federal employment in mid-game, the leadership also delayed the effective dates of provisions to calculate new annuities on a high-five salary base and to generally end the FERS “special retirement supplement”—in both cases to make those changes effective for those newly retiring in calendar year 2028 and later.
While those changes were made to appease more moderate members, some question remains whether the measure will pass the full House due to objections by some of the most conservative Republican members that the measure does not go far enough in limiting spending. With Democrats unanimously opposed, Republican leaders can afford to lose only two votes
