Sponsors (9)
The bill trades expanded, faster safety protections for federal employee survivors (by allowing self‑certification and alternative OPM procedures) against reduced notice/consent safeguards for spouses, possible wrongful payments, and modest administrative costs.
Federal employees who are survivors of recent domestic violence can receive lump-sum retirement credits without notifying or getting consent from an abusive spouse, reducing immediate safety risks.
Federal employee survivors can access benefits faster because they may use a written self‑certification that domestic violence occurred within the prior year, lowering administrative barriers to relief.
The Office of Personnel Management can adopt safer alternative procedures for obtaining consent or providing notice so required payments can proceed without exposing survivors to danger, improving implementation flexibility.
Spouses or former spouses may lose notice or consent protections, increasing the risk of disputes or wrongful payments if self‑certification is abused.
Federal employees who experienced abuse more than one year earlier may be excluded by the one-year self‑certification limit, leaving some survivors without the safety benefit and potentially requiring risky notice/consent.
Taxpayers and federal retirement systems could incur additional administrative costs and complexity as OPM develops and implements new safety‑preserving procedures and regulations.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows OPM to waive notice and spousal-consent rules for FERS and CSRS lump-sum retirement payments when a qualifying domestic violence crime and a safety risk are shown, with regulatory safeguards and a self-certification option.
Introduced February 25, 2026 by Joseph Neguse · Last progress February 25, 2026
Allows the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to waive normal notice and spousal-consent requirements for payment of lump-sum federal retirement credits when the employee or Member shows the spouse or former spouse committed a covered domestic violence crime and that giving notice or obtaining consent would risk safety. OPM must adopt regulations and alternative procedures (including a written self-certification option for incidents within the prior year) and must issue those regulations within one year; the amendments take effect one year after enactment. The change applies to lump-sum payments under both the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), includes safety-preserving procedures for cases previously subject to notice/consent, and directs OPM to create rules that balance privacy, verification, and beneficiary protections.