IRS increases annual TSP maximum contribution

IRS increases annual TSP maximum contribution

Employees aged 50 or older can save more money through their catch-up contributions.

• Federal employees will be able to contribute more to their Thrift Savings Plan accounts next year. The IRS increased the maximum annual contribution limit to $24,500, which is a $1,000 increase over 2025. Additionally, employees aged 50 or older can save more money through their catch-up contributions. And if employees are aged 60 to 63, they can save even more with a higher catch up contribution of $11,250.
• A new bill would put a hold on some 8(a) contract awards. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) wants to stop all no-bid awards under the 8(a) Small Business Program until the Small Business Administration completes a detailed audit. The chairwoman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship’s Stop 8(a) Contracting Fraud Act would put any new sole source 8(a) contracts on hold until the report is submitted to the committee in 2026. Ernst said the 8(a) program is broken and needs to be reformed. The bill comes after two high-profile examples of 8(a) contractors allegedly committing fraud. Agencies make more than 5,700 8(a) sole source awards a year.
• Veterans Affairs said service members forced out of the military for refusing a COVID vaccine are once again eligible for GI Bill education benefits. More than 8,000 service members refused to comply with the Biden-era vaccine mandate and separated from the military. More than half of them received a less-than-honorable discharge. That may have made them ineligible for GI Bill benefits. The VA said nearly 900 veterans are once again eligible for those benefits under the Trump administration, and that thousands more could regain eligibility.
• A majority of House lawmakers want a vote on a bill to end the Trump administration’s rollback of collective bargaining for federal employees. A bipartisan bloc of 218 House lawmakers signed onto a discharge petition forcing the House to vote on the Protect America’s Workforce Act. The bill would restore collective bargaining rights for tens of thousands of federal employees, if approved by Congress. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) was the most recent lawmaker to back the bill. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March that barred unions from bargaining on behalf of federal employees at many agencies, on the grounds that those agencies work primarily in national security.

<![CDATA[]]>

• The acting chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency resigned on Monday. David Richardson stepped down from performing the duties of the FEMA administrator after six months on the job. Richardson’s tenure was marked by major staff departures and program cuts. He also faced criticism over FEMA’s response to deadly floods in Texas over the summer. FEMA Chief of Staff Karen Evans will take on the duties of FEMA administrator starting December 1st.
• The Federal Communications Commission is moving to reverse some recently issued cybersecurity requirements. The FCC will vote on Thursday to rescind cybersecurity rules for telecommunications providers. Those rules were put in place late in the Biden administration in response to the sweeping Salt Typhoon hacks that infiltrated telecom networks across the world. U.S. officials have attributed that campaign to Chinese government-backed hackers. But the current FCC leaders said the rules were unlawful and ineffective from a cyber standpoint. They point to cyber improvements that telecom providers say they have made on a voluntary basis.
• The Defense Department is failing to address the security risks created by the massive amount of publicly accessible digital information about its personnel and operations. The Government Accountability Office found that digital activity from personal and government devices, online communications and defense platforms generate traceable data, which puts DoD personnel, their families, operations and national security at risk. GAO said the department needs to conduct a comprehensive review of its security policies and guidance to identify gaps in how it manages risks in the digital environment.
• The Defense Department has released a new list of critical technology areas. Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael has reduced the number of research-and-development priorities to six areas of focus. The list includes artificial intelligence, contested logistics technologies and scaled hypersonics. “When I stepped into this role, our office had identified 14 critical technology areas; while each of these areas holds value, such a broad list dilutes focus and fails to highlight the most urgent needs of the war fighter. Fourteen priorities in truth means no priorities at all,” Emil Michael said.

Copyright
© 2025 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.