US President Donald Trump has suddenly demanded from Congress that a promised 2.1 percent raise to federal workers in 2019 be cancelled due the country’s woeful economic situation.
Under federal law, federal employees receive an annual cost-of-living raise in addition to specific increases in high-cost cities called “locality pay”.
“Across-the-board pay increases and locality pay increases, in particular, have long-term fixed costs, yet fail to address existing pay disparities or target mission critical recruitment and retention goals,” Trump wrote in a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House and the president of the Senate on Thursday.
“In light of our Nation’s … serious economic conditions …federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases,” Trump argued.
“Federal employee pay must be performance-based, and aligned strategically toward recruiting, retaining, and rewarding high-performing Federal employees and those…