A Longtime TSP Board Member Announced He Will Resign

David Jones, who has served for more than a decade on the board of the agency that administers the Thrift Savings Plan, announced Thursday that he will resign later this month.

Jones joined the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board in 2011, helping to shepherd the agency through multiple executive directors and modernization efforts, including the implementation of the TSP Modernization Act and the blended retirement system for members of the military service branches.

He also served for two years as acting chairman of the agency, when then-Chairman Michael Kennedy resigned after the Trump administration in 2020 exerted political pressure to force board members to reverse course on plans to move the TSP’s international (I) fund to a more comprehensive investment index because the new index included investments in Chinese corporations. President Biden designated board member Michael Gerber to serve as chairman in June.

“It has been my honor and privilege to serve as a member of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board since November 2011,” Jones said in his resignation letter to Biden. “On June 9, 2022, four people nominated by you were confirmed to board terms . . . My term expired in October 2018. I believe that it is the right time for me to step down now that the board has four very capable members confirmed by the Senate.”

Jones, whose last day is Sept. 15, is the final holdover on the agency board from the Obama administration, aside from Dana Bilyeu, whose seat is chosen in consultation with the speaker of the House and who was confirmed to a new term earlier this year. Trump nominated a slate of new members following the I Fund controversy in 2020, but they never received confirmation votes.

Biden’s nominee to replace Jones, Javier Saade, is his only FRTIB pick not to be confirmed by the Senate. Thus far, Republican lawmakers have successfully blocked his confirmation over past social media posts denigrating GOP political leaders.

TSP Executive Director Ravindra Deo thanked Jones for his years of service in a statement.

“Mr. Jones has fulfilled his fiduciary duties with extraordinary care and diligence,” he said. “His years of work at the agency have benefited all TSP participants and beneficiaries. The agency will miss his wise counsel and strategic guidance.”