In the News

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Vice Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released the following statement on President Trump’s decision to cancel a 2.1 percent pay raise for civilian federal employees scheduled to take effect in January of next year:

“President Trump is feeling cornered and lashing out by cancelling a modest, planned pay increase for our dedicated federal workforce. His tax bill exploded the deficit, and now he is trying to balance the budget on the backs of federal workers. I will not accept President Trump’s mismanagement of the federal government as fait accompli.

My goal remains the enactment of the FAIR Act (H.R. 4775), which would provide a 3 percent pay increase for the federal workforce in FY2019.

We have a government to run, services to deliver, and people to care for. We do not do any of that without a motivated and talented federal workforce. It might be President Trump’s goal to hollow out our cancer research centers, public health agencies, and national security staff. It is not mine.

When President Kennedy spoke of the nobility of public service, he did so out of a belief that our country is made stronger by a federal government people can depend on and for which people want to work. For President Trump, the federal workforce is just a punching bag.”