President Bush said that pay raises for federal workers would be limited to 2 percent in order to stay within budget. He cited the war on terrorism and the struggling economy as reasons why the limit on raises was necessary. Federal employees were to receive a 2.7 percent across-the-board raise as well as increases based on private-sector area wages. The pay raise has now been set at 1.5 percent. The move to limit raises has been criticized by labor leaders.
See "President limits raises for federal workers", Chicago Tribune, August 27, 2003