A bipartisan group of 110 lawmakers is urging congressional leaders to reject President Donald Trump’s proposed 2027 civilian federal pay freeze and instead provide employees with a pay increase of at least 3.8%.
Congressional Federal Workforce Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., and Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., along with Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, led the effort, according to a Sept. 21 press release. The coalition includes 12 senators and 98 House members.
The lawmakers are asking Congress to approve the 4.1% average federal employee pay increase proposed under the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act for fiscal year 2027, or at minimum match the 3.8% increase that the Trump administration has proposed for federal law enforcement personnel. Walkinshaw and Schatz introduced the 2027 FAIR Act in February.
“These challenges have come on top of just a 2 percent pay raise in 2025 and a 1 percent raise in 2026. Asking these public servants to now accept a pay freeze as the cost of living continues to rise amounts to an effective pay cut,” the lawmakers wrote in a Sept. 15 letter to House and Senate leaders.
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 3.4% during the 12 months ending in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In August, Trump submitted an alternative pay plan that would freeze base and locality pay for most civilian federal employees in 2027. The administration said the move would avoid $26 billion in automatic locality pay increases that would otherwise take effect in January.
Trump’s plan separately calls for a 3.8% compensation increase for federal law enforcement personnel, citing recruitment and retention needs. It also proposes basic pay increases ranging from 5% to 7% for members of the armed forces, depending on pay grade.
“The Administration’s own proposal on federal pay increases demonstrates why such an increase is necessary,” the lawmakers wrote.
“President Trump has proposed that federal law enforcement personnel receive a 3.8 percent pay increase to improve recruitment and retention, and has proposed a 5-7 percent pay increase for service members given the critical support they provide our nation. The same rationale applies to all federal workers,” they said.
The letter points specifically to federal workforce needs at agencies responsible for healthcare, benefits administration, national security, and cybersecurity.
“The federal government must recruit and retain skilled employees to care for our veterans, protect our national security, inspect our food and medicine, conduct lifesaving research, process benefits, secure federal networks, and perform countless other critical functions,” the lawmakers wrote.
They also argued that a pay freeze could compound staffing challenges at the Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, including recruitment and retention of cybersecurity professionals responsible for protecting federal networks and critical infrastructure.