Van Hollen Pushes for Federal Employee Pay Raise in Short-Term Funding Bill

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen announced that he will file an amendment to the short-term funding bill to provide federal employees with a 1.9 percent cost of living increase. President Trump announced a pay freeze for civil servants for 2019, which he can do unilaterally unless Congress acts. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Van Hollen secured the same pay increase as part of the Fiscal Year 2019 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, which passed the Senate with strong bipartisan support.

“Our federal workforce protects our nation, ensures the safety of our food and medicine, delivers Social Security and veterans’ benefits, and carries out countless other responsibilities on behalf of our citizens. But President Trump is poised to give them the gift of a pay freeze if Congress fails to act before the end of the year,” said Senator Van Hollen. “I was proud to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this modest cost-of-living adjustment, despite the Trump Administration’s constant attack on our civil servants, and I am going to keep fighting until it becomes law. If we can’t get it done as part of this short-term package, it should be the first order of business when we return.”

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