Latest news with #OnlineRetirementApplication
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk's DOGE is launching a new AI retirement system. It was built mostly under Biden
Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has spent its first 100 days slashing government programs and firing employees. Yet Musk views DOGE not just as a downsizing force, but also as a team of technologically elite shock troops tasked with rapidly modernizing outdated government systems. Bald eagle live cam update: Now you can watch Big Bear's famous eaglets leave the nest These stunning photos show how nature came back after the world's largest dam removal project 'I'll never get out of this hole': Older Americans brace as DOE begins Social Security garnishments One of DOGE's primary targets on that front is the Office of Personnel Management's antiquated retirement application system, which still relies on paper forms and manual processing. The system handles retirement applications and manages benefits for former federal employees and their families, coordinating closely with agency HR teams and payroll centers. DOGE and its allies inside the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) say they've now built and tested a fully digital, AI-enhanced replacement system, which they plan to launch across federal agencies on June 2. But the plans rely heavily on a product built during the Biden administration called the Online Retirement Application (ORA) system, say two former OPM employees who recently left the agency. A leaked planning document shared with Fast Company shows the ORA pilot launched in 2023 with a handful of agency HR and payroll offices, serving 'a few hundred' retirees. The plan under Biden was to roll out the ORA system government-wide in 2025. The first source, who worked on retirement systems at OPM and spoke to Fast Company on the condition of anonymity, says that ORA is still just a prototype, and not built to support tens of thousands of real retirees. Yet one of the first actions OPM took when Trump came into office was to interrupt the development of ORA. 'They reduced support contracts and added a team of DOGE developers,' adds the second source, who until recently worked at OPM and also spoke on the condition of anonymity. 'There is now a 'war room' to accelerate the work.' DOGE has kept its version of the ORA system largely under wraps. It remains unclear whether the team changed the original system's architecture or user experience, or how the system's AI components were developed, trained, or integrated. A White House official told Fox News that the AI met Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) requirements for securing and monitoring cloud-based services used by government agencies. (Neither DOGE nor OPM responded to Fast Company's requests for comment.) The first ex-OPM source fears that DOGE, without fully understanding the federal retirement workflow, will simply roll out the ORA system as is. 'I think instead of testing it with some Department of Interior retirees, they're just slapping the system into being a requirement,' the source says. This would put the onus entirely on all retiring federal employees to correctly input their data and documents into the system without help from their agency HR department, according to the source. Few dispute the need for modernization. The current system processes around 100,000 retirement applications annually—in a literal underground mine in Boyers, Pennsylvania. The paper-based workflow is infamously slow and prone to error, often causing months-long delays that can be devastating for retirees who depend on timely benefits. While DOGE cites a Trump executive order from February 11 as the mandate behind its work, the OPM's original ORA and digital records systems were responses to a 2021 Biden executive order aimed at modernizing federal technology. To spearhead the retirement-focused effort, Musk reportedly tapped Airbnb cofounder Joe Gebbia, a close friend and fellow Trump supporter. Gebbia joined DOGE in late February, vowing to apply his 'designer brain and startup spirit' to build a paperless solution. Since then, a team of DOGE agents has been working out of a command center at OPM, collaborating with Retirement Services personnel and select staff. OPM acting director Charles Ezell said in a May 7 memo that the new system had already processed 25 retirement claims without generating paper—a claim that Gebbia then echoed on X. Notably, Ezell referred to the system in the memo as the ORA, the system built under Biden. Some experts suspect DOGE's version is little more than a minimum viable product (MVP)—a rough prototype meant to demonstrate potential. Former U.S. Digital Service engineer Kate Green notes that MVPs often depend on manual work-arounds and aren't ready for large-scale use. 'These MVPs often have manual steps or work-arounds for difficult parts of the app, and future development eliminates these steps to create something fully automated,' she tells Fast Company. The second ex-OPM source says DOGE may be emphasizing flashy features—like ditching paper—while ignoring the real pain points, such as retirement applications with missing documents, missing signatures, or errors. 'Personally,' the source says, 'I think they are focusing just on paper because it seems like an easy win.' This post originally appeared at to get the Fast Company newsletter:
Business Insider
13-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Your government pension is going digital as DOGE targets paper documents stored in an old salt mine
The US government said it's finally bringing federal retirement into the digital age and leaving behind one of the strangest government facilities still in operation. In a major shift announced on Monday, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said that it will begin processing all new federal retirement applications digitally starting June 2. Paper applications will no longer be accepted from July 15, ending a 50-year bureaucratic tradition. "Retirement from federal service is finally entering the digital age," said OPM interim director Chuck Ezell. He called the move a "transformative step that honors the service of federal employees" with a retirement process "worthy of the 21st century." For decades, the federal government has stored and processed retirement paperwork in a converted mine 230 feet below Boyers, Pennsylvania. With more than 400 million records housed in 26,000 filing cabinets, the process was slow, manual, and reliant on the elevator's shaft — a system that Elon Musk described as "insane." "The elevator breaks down sometimes, and nobody can retire," Musk said at a White House press conference in February. Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency, has been one of the loudest critics of the system, calling the paper-based process a symbol of government inefficiency and saying the aim was to "rightsize" federal bureaucracy. Federal retirement processing has long been a bottleneck, capping out at roughly 10,000 applications a month. In February, OPM released a promotional video showing that, under a DOGE challenge, it had successfully processed a retirement application digitally in just two days without printing a single page. Now, with the launch of the Online Retirement Application (ORA) system, OPM says retirement will be faster, more accurate, and less costly to taxpayers. But the modernization effort may have consequences. The limestone mine, a Cold War-era facility that employs hundreds in rural western Pennsylvania, could face an uncertain future. In February, a senior OPM source told Business Insider that many employees feared losing their jobs and that shutting down the mine would devastate the local economy. OPM didn't immediately reply to Business Insider's request for comments made outside working hours.
Newsweek
09-05-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
DOGE Announces Deadline for Major Retirement Change
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has announced it is overhauling the federal government's retirement application system. Why It Matters The change is the latest of numerous DOGE-backed reforms to hit federal agencies. The unofficial department has been working at the request of President Donald Trump to modernize technology and slim down government. Outgoing DOGE de facto leader Elon Musk has previously called out the use of paper records for processing the retirement of federal workers. What To Know Starting June 2, DOGE and the Office for Personnel Management (OPM) will be rolling out its new Online Retirement Application (ORA) system for federal departments served by the National Finance Center and Interior Business Center, which are two federal shared services providers administering HR support. Retirement applications submitted after this date via paper will not be processed. If agencies don't use either of the two shared services providers, the OPM will provide a "complementary method for electronic submissions." In a post on X, formerly Twitter, DOGE said the new system "will reduce the average time people wait to receive their retirement check from 3-5 months to less than 1 month." Following the DOGE announcement, Musk said the process of retiring from the federal government will now be "so much faster and accurate." File photo: Elon Musk departs the U.S. Capitol Building on March 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C. File photo: Elon Musk departs the U.S. Capitol Building on March 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Andrew Harnik/GETTY Paper Processing In February, Musk and DOGE brought attention to "Iron Mountain," a vast underground mine located near Boyers, Pennsylvania. It is run by the OPM and processes the retirement paperwork for the entire federal workforce. A report by NBC News said it stores more than 400 million individual records spread across 26,000 file cabinets. Some 450 OPM employees help run the facility. "Federal employee retirements are processed using paper, by hand, in an old limestone mine in Pennsylvania," DOGE said on X on February 11. "700+ mine workers operate 230 feet underground to process ~10,000 applications per month, which are stored in manila envelopes and cardboard boxes. The retirement process takes multiple months." Responding to the post, Musk wrote: "Maybe it's just me, but I think there is room for improvement here." Federal employee retirements are processed using paper, by hand, in an old limestone mine in Pennsylvania. 700+ mine workers operate 230 feet underground to process ~10,000 applications per month, which are stored in manila envelopes and cardboard boxes. The retirement process... — Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 11, 2025 What People Are Saying OPM's Acting Director Charles Ezell said in a May 7 memo sent to agency heads: "The federal workforce deserves a retirement process that matches the demands of the 21st century. Legacy systems, with outdated technology and cumbersome procedures, have delayed retirements and frustrated employees who have dedicated their careers to public service. By harnessing modern technology and interagency collaboration, OPM has been working to deliver a retirement process that is fast, user-friendly, and responsive to the needs of our employees." Elon Musk posted on X on May 8: "Retirement is now digital, so much faster and more accurate! Nice work by many." What Happens Next The memo said training and onboarding will be available to all agencies participating and must be completed by June 2.
