Four House Democrats active in civil service issues have again pressed OPM on processing of retirement applications and the impact that staff cuts have had on it and on customer service.
Even with the Online Retirement Application portal available, “we continue to hear from constituents who are experiencing significant delays and communication failures regarding their retirement applications,” said a letter from Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the ranking Democrat on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and others.
The letter says OPM provided an incomplete response to questions they posed previously, especially regarding the loss of some 100 employees in OPM’s Retirement Services division due in part to the deferred resignation program. The members asked why that was not addressed, noting that they have separately received a letter from OPM’s inspector general office raising “concerns that these losses would compound existing delays in retirement processing.”
And while OPM disclosed a decrease in contact center representative staffing levels from 150 to 115 over 2025—again partly due to deferred resignations—they asked for more detailed information on the impact on “customer service and support for the existing retiree population amidst the growing number of new retirements.”
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