Many of the same ideas have been raised many times before, in similar CBO reports and in various budget plans, without being enacted. The report does not constitute formal recommendations from CBO, but the options carry the important weight of counting as savings under congressional budget rules. The timing of this latest report—the most recent one was in March 2011—is especially important because Congress is trying to work out a budget agreement for the remainder of the current fiscal year after the current stopgap funding measure expires January 15. One goal of many Democrats in those talks is to call off budgetary sequestration at least for two years, but Republicans generally insist on finding offsetting spending cuts if that is to happen. Proposals including raising the employee contribution toward retirement and changing to a less generous retiree COLA formula have gained new attention recently as part of those discussions, with employee organizations working to oppose them. Meanwhile, several Senate Republicans have reintroduced a bill (S-1678) to eliminate the FERS defined benefit for employees hired in the future—specifically, six months after enactment.
