The bill keeps long-running policy riders such as a ban on training that is not directly job-related and a ban on considering federal jobs for possible conversion to contract under the OMB “Circular A-76” process. Image: The Bold Bureau/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe general government appropriations bill now ready for voting in Congress for fiscal year 2026—now already is more than three months old—contains a mix of familiar and new provisions for the federal workplace.
Conferees kept a provision from the original Senate version but not in the House version requiring OPM to assess extending for five years the now-expired identity theft and credit monitoring protection provided in light of data breaches there in 2015. They similarly kept a Senate provision requiring OPM report quarterly on administration of the PSHB program “including any gaps in OPM’s capacity to successfully implement the program.”
They meanwhile dropped two provisions that had been in the House version but not the Senate version. One would have put into law the Trump administration’s policy barring coverage of gender-affirming care in the FEHB and PSHB programs effective this year, with an exception allowing continuing of treatment previously underway.
The other would have banned investments in the TSP in funds that make investment decisions based primarily on environmental, social, or governance criteria. That would have applied only to funds available through the mutual fund investment window, which the TSP has said would mean dropping that feature because it does not have the resources to monitor the available funds in that way.
The bill keeps long-running policy riders such as a ban on training that is not directly job-related and a ban on considering federal jobs for possible conversion to contract under the OMB “Circular A-76” process.
The general government bill also is where Congress would specify a federal pay raise if it disagreed with the White House’s planned figure—which became a moot point when calendar year 2025 ended without Congress having taken a position.
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See also,
Calculating Service Credit for Sick Leave At Retirement
FERS Supplement vs The 10% Pension Bonus
How Your FERS, Social Security and TSP Payments Get Taxed
Where Should I Put My TSP in Retirement
