Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) had some harsh criticism for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Referring to the government’s retirement system, Mikulsi said it was “wasteful and unacceptable,” and in need of modernization.
Said Mikulsi, “this cannot be a casual endeavor for your office . . . Promises made must be promises met.”
To put her comments in context, Mikulsi was talking about the nearly quarter-million federal employees and retirees in her state of Maryland who routinely complain to her about the lengthy process OPM uses to calculate their retirement benefits. According to Mikulsi, too many times retirees receive smaller pension benefits than they actually are entitled to, and are forced to wait months for OPM to make corrections. In addition, according to the senator, some retirees are overpaid then compelled by OPM to repay the government with interest attached.
“This is an equally unacceptable practice,” Mikulsi wrote in her letter to OPM Director John Berry. “I know the problems with this system started long before you became director and what you inherited is scandalously wasteful and ineffective. But during this terrible recession, it is unacceptable that federal employees cannot get the information they need to plan for retirement.”