President Donald Trump wants to freeze pay for most federal workers next year despite rising inflation, while giving raises to immigration officers and other law enforcement personnel that he favors.
The president informed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) of his “alternative pay plan” in a letter last week, claiming routine raises for the federal workforce in 2027 would be “irresponsible.” Unless Congress legislates otherwise, the White House recommendations could go into effect with an executive order later in the year.
Trump, who has ballooned the national debt with expensive tax cuts and pursued a costly war with Iran, argued that withholding pay hikes from civil servants would help put the country “on a fiscally sustainable course.”
“I have therefore decided to set at zero the pay adjustment to be made for the 2027 pay year,” he wrote. “This decision will maintain fiscal responsibility without harming the Government’s ability to recruit and retain well qualified employees.”
But his plan includes an exception that would give 3.8% annual raises to law enforcement personnel, in order to “increase recruitment and retention in critical” roles, while members of the military would get pay hikes as high as 7%.