Raises Cancelled for Fed Workers

Trump: I'm Canceling Raises for Federal Workers

Members of the military will still get their raises

By Newser Editors and Wire Services

In this Aug. 28 photo, President Trump speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

President Trump has told Congress he is canceling a pay raise that most civilian federal employees were due to receive in January, citing budgetary constraints, per the AP. Trump informed House and Senate leaders in a letter, saying that locality pay increases would cost $25 billion, on top of a 2.1% across-the-board increase for most civilian government employees. "We must maintain efforts to put our Nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and Federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases," reads the letter. Congress could effectively overturn the decision, notes the Hill. Trump's action doesn't affect the military, whose members are still due to receive a 2.6% raise.