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In a display of bipartisan agreement that doesn’t immediately devolve into a cable news shouting match, James Lankford and John Fetterman have teamed up to reintroduce the Retirement Annuity Supplement Clarity Act. Yes, “clarity” and “federal retirement calculations” in the same sentence, bold strategy. The bill aims to fix how the Office of Personnel Management calculates retirement annuity supplements for federal employees, especially law enforcement officers dealing with settlement agreements that split those benefits.

Lankford says the goal is to let officers focus on, you know, actual law enforcement instead of decoding government math like it’s a late-night puzzle. The proposal would clear up how annuity supplements are divided when courts get involved, essentially telling OPM to follow explicit court orders instead of improvising. Meanwhile, Fetterman framed the bill as a fairness issue, emphasizing that officers who’ve spent careers in high-risk roles shouldn’t have to fight bureaucracy in retirement just to get what they already earned. Revolutionary concept, really.

Under the bill, retirees affected by past confusion, specifically those who retired on or before June 30, 2016, could get repayments if their benefits were recalculated in ways that didn’t match court intent. It also conveniently waives efforts to claw back overpayments made to former spouses. Nothing says “efficient government” like trying to untangle years-old payment disputes. Bottom line: Congress is attempting to fix a problem that probably shouldn’t have been that complicated to begin with. So naturally, it required a whole new act of Congress.