A group of eight U.S. Senators and four members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kiran Ahuja seeking answers to the retirement backlog. The April 3 letter, which you can read here, was sent by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Reps. Robin Kelly (D-IL), Shontel Brown (D-OH), Annie Kuster (D-NH) and Mark Pocan (D-WI).

“We write to express our concern with the excessive delays federal retirees in our states are facing as they wait to obtain their hard-earned retirement benefits. It has been reported that average retirement processing times have been far above the agency’s stated goal of 60 days— instead often exceeding 90 days. We are aware of at least one case that has been in processing for fifteen months,” the members wrote.

The OPM retirement backlog dropped by nearly 5.5 percent in February, from 24,858 at the end of January to 23,500 at the end of February 2023. Processing times also decreased, averaging 65 days to process claims, compared to 93 days in January. Additionally, the Biden Administration noted it is working on pilot programs to digitize the retirement process, which should lead to efficiencies and a more expedited process if successful.