The Office of Personnel Management has responded to congressional concerns over delays in federal retirement processing, the Federal News Network reported Tuesday.
Register now for the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Digital Transformation Summit on April 22 to gain exclusive insights into government modernization initiatives, tackling outdated legacy systems and exploring next-generation artificial intelligence, cyber and enterprise IT.
Why Is Federal Retirement Processing Delayed?
OPM Director Scott Kupor, in a letter to House Democrats, stated that the backlog in federal retirement processing is primarily due to outdated technology and cumbersome procedures, rather than staffing shortages.
“The main issues with federal HR, we have found, are not low staffing levels, but inefficient and outdated technology and antiquated, cumbersome regulations and processes,” said Kupor.
Democrats earlier pointed to reduced staffing levels and a surge of retirements under the Deferred Retirement Program as contributors to the backlog.
What Is OPM Doing to Speed Up Retirement Processing?
The agency’s new Online Retirement Application, or ORA, is designed to replace manual, paper-based processes and help expedite previously stalled applications by shifting them to a fully digital system.
“As of today, ORA applications are being completed in approximately 40 days, compared with 90 days for paper-based applications. I am fully confident that this 40-day time period will continue to be reduced as we are able to get the payroll providers fully integrated into the new system,” said Kupor.
He also noted that 1,500 backlogged applications were fast-tracked electronically to payroll and then to OPM, bypassing slower manual processes.
“These applications had been sitting for months — and were likely to be sitting for months longer; ORA enabled us to address this challenge,” said Kupor.
