Rejection of Trump Pay Freeze Urged by House Democrats

A letter was written to House and Senate leadership September 5 by democratic members of the House that represent in and around Washinton D.C. This letter urged them to counteract the proposed freeze of federal pay intended to begin in 2019.

Many reps called for what they refer to as an end to the “vilification” and “ongoing assault” on federal employees. Among these reps were Steny Hoyer, John Sarbanes John Delaney, Anthony Brown and Jamie Raskin of Maryland; Gerry Connolly and Don Beyer of Virginia; and Eleanor Holmes Norton of D.C.

Donald Trump’s letter that announced his intentions to freeze pay for federal workers suggests that the move would transition employee compensation to be more in line with a performance-based system as well as reduce federal spending.

However, some critics believe that it is another attack against the federal workforce from the Trump administration.

The congressmen wrote that federal employees have endured many attacks and made sacrifices of their own over the last six years, including contributing $200 billion to deficit reduction, undergoing federal pay and hiring freezes, and losing family income to sequestration-related furloughs, and increasing their pension contributions. They also said, “We cannot recruit and retain the talent we need to support a 21st-century federal workforce if this assault on public servants continues.”

The current Senate version of the general government appropriations bill features a 1.9 percent pay raise for federal employees, counteracting the intended pay freeze. However, the House version doesn’t mention federal pay.

Making sure that the Senate’s version that includes the pay increase makes it into the conferenced version of the appropriations bill was also urged in the letter.