Trump Formalizes Federal Pay Freeze Plan for 2019

President Trump on Thursday formally announced that he would pursue a pay freeze for civilian federal employees in 2019, increasing the likelihood of a fight with Congress next month. Trump needed to formalize an alternative compensation plan for 2019 by tomorrow, or else a 25 percent increase in locality pay and 2.1 percent increase in across-the-board raises would automatically kick in in accordance with the 1990 Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act. He initially floated the prospect of a pay freeze for civilian feds in his fiscal 2019 budget proposal earlier this year.