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August 15, 2025

2 entries on this date.

OPM directed federal health carriers to exclude gender-affirming care from FEHB, PSHB coverage

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management issued FEHB Program Carrier Letter 2025-01b on August 15, 2025, directing all Federal Employees Health Benefits and Postal Service Health Benefits carriers to exclude coverage for hormone treatments and surgical procedures tied to gender transition, effective Plan Year 2026. On August 3, 2026, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and federal employees filed a class-action lawsuit alleging the exclusion violates Title VII's sex-discrimination protections.

Federal grand jury indicted New Orleans Mayor Cantrell for using city bodyguard on taxpayer-funded personal trips

On August 15, 2025, a federal grand jury indicted New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell on 18 counts including conspiracy, wire fraud, and obstruction of justice, alleging a years-long scheme in which she used her city-assigned bodyguard, former NOPD officer Jeffrey Vappie, for personal purposes while he was paid on the clock — including more than $70,000 in taxpayer-funded travel to Scotland, Martha's Vineyard, and Napa Valley — and then conspired to delete evidence and lie to federal investigators and the grand jury to conceal the relationship. Cantrell and Vappie both pleaded not guilty at an arraignment on September 10, 2025. As of this writing, trial is scheduled for March 15, 2027.