Andrew McCabe isn’t part of president’ Trump’s cabinet, but he managed to get caught up in the latest firing flurry anyway.
McCabe first became a household name when he stepped into the role of acting Director of the FBI following the dismissal of James Comey, which brought about its own maelstrom of questions, notably those about whether president Trump has obstructed justice.
Now serving under the leadership of Trump appointee Christopher Wray, McCabe was fired by the Trump administration two days before turning 50, and that has led to accusations that the White House denied McCabe his retirement benefits. Getting fired does have an impact on McCabe’s benefits, but it doesn’t eliminate them altogether.
Retiring as a Law Enforcement Officer (LEO)
The reason that publications like Law & Crime cried foul after McCabe’s dismissal is that persons working as Law Enforcement Officers are entitled to a specific set of benefits that allow them to retire earlier than the average working person for obvious reasons.
The conditions of their retirement must be to have served 20 years or longer, a feat that McCabe was on track to accomplish until his dismissal roughly 24-hours before he reached the age of 50. McCabe or any LEO would not lose his entire pension by leaving the job before 50. However, he would see a significant reduction in the size of his pension.
For example, McCabe’s health insurance might not follow him into retirement because of his younger age, and the multiplier used to determine his pension income would be reduced from 1.7% of the average salary he earned through his highest three years of employment to 1.1%. It’s a number estimated to be between $55,000-$60,000 at the higher rate. But he would still receive some retirement benefits.
Legal Trouble and Federal Employment
McCabe has had a successful career. As an attorney with degrees from Duke and Washington University School of Law, he’s had a lucrative career and almost certainly has money to live off of in his retirement years.
With his legal background, McCabe is no-doubt aware of the finer points surrounding his dismissal. Federal employees are offered special protection through liability insurance should they be slandered or defrauded by their coworkers; however, with the recommendation for McCabe’s departure coming from the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility, it might be difficult to use such protections.
Congressman Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and several other democrats went as far as to offer McCabe a job so that he could satisfy the requirements to retire at 50.
There’s no indication as to whether McCabe will take up the offer at the moment, but if he did it would be fittingly tongue-in-cheek when held up next to the “shoot first, ask questions later” approach that Trump takes to human resources.
Kate is a health and political journalist. You can subscribe to her blog, So Well, So Woman, to read more of her work and receive a free subscriber gift! https://sowellsowoman.com/about/subscribe/