The House of Representatives approved 10 of the twelve annual appropriations bills as part of two separate “minibus” packages prior to the August recess. Funding bills for Homeland Security and the Legislative Branch were not included in either package. The Senate has not yet considered or approved any appropriations bills for FY 2021, which begins on October 1. 

The Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill, included as part of the second consolidated appropriations bill in the House (H.R. 7617) regrettably stayed silent on a pay adjustment for federal employees in 2021, effectively endorsing the one percent pay raise President Trump recommended for federal employees in 2021. However, given the economic downturn since President Trump’s budget request in February, there is a growing fear a potential pay raise could be reduced or even eliminated.

FMA strongly supports the three percent raise the uniformed services are on track to receive in 2021, by way of the FY2021 NDAA. We have urged Congress to reconsider the federal workforce and provide the traditional and fair pay parity with the military, and will continue to advocate throughout the appropriations process. We also wrote about a fair pay raise for feds in the August 4 issue of FEDManager.com. Further, we strongly encourage all FMA members to send a prepared action letter to their senators and representative. You can find information on this and other action letters at www.fedmanagers.org.