Catherwood LibraryILR School

The White House issued an executive order on Friday that would freeze pay increases for federal civilian workers, a move that President Trump had been seeking for a year, citing the critical state of the federal budget, which has reached over a trillion dollars in deficit. Military personnel will continue to receive a 2.8 percent wage increase, and in previous years, civilian wage increases were at par with military wages, but this has decreased steadily over the last two years. For the 800,000+ federal employees that are currently on leave or working without pay due to the government shutdown, this is an added blow. There is still a chance that federal workers may receive an increase; the Senate has approved a 1.9 percent raise for federal workers, with the House expected to follow suit, but the administration would have to sign the measure.