TSP, Whistleblower Bills Advance

Several bills have advanced through the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, including one (HR-4197) that would extend by three years a pilot project, enacted as part of a 2012 whistleblower reform law, allowing employees to appeal decisions against them at MSPB in retaliation cases to the federal appeals court where they live. The provision, which is due to expire in November, suspended what had been the exclusive jurisdiction of the Washington, D.C.-based Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which over the years had issued a series of decisions narrowing whistleblower protections. The panel also approved a bill (HR-4193) that would make the age-appropriate TSP Lifecycle fund, rather than the government securities G fund, the default investment for employees hired in the future who do not choose a fund for their investments. The TSP recently sought that change, which it has considered for some time; unlike certain changes in TSP policy, this would require legislation.