The Federal Benefits Open Season starts tomorrow. OPM’s Open Season website is up and running. OPM claims to have an “improved” FEHB plan comparison tool which focuses on out of pocket costs. It’s certainly worth checking out.  The Open Season ends on December 12.

Congress also returns to Capitol Hill this week.  Federal News Radio reports on six legislative items to follow during the lame duck session. The lame duck session is scheduled for three weeks (not including Thanksgiving week) but the Washington Examiner reports that Congressional conservatives are seeking a quick lame duck that would extend federal government funding into the Trump presidency but not for the remainder of the current federal fiscal year, September 30, 2017.  The FEHBlog will be watching.

Govexec.com reports that

Kay Coles James and Linda Springer, who both served during the George W. Bush administration, are helping shepherd transition efforts for Republican President-Elect Trump at OPM and OMB, respectively, according to the campaign’s agency transition team organization chart published in Politico on Wednesday. James and Springer are listed under the Management and Budget category on the document, along with former Reagan attorney general and chief of staff Ed Meese, and Paul Winfree, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Institute for Economic Policy.

Ms. James and Ms. Springer each served as OPM Director during the G.W. Bush administration.