Press Releases

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations, led 62 members of Congress in urging the House Committee on Appropriations to include a 5.1 percent pay raise for federal employees in the FY2023 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill. The increase is in line with Connolly’s FAIR Act, which he introduced in January of this year.

“Throughout the pandemic, civil servants performed the essential work of the federal government under the most extraordinary circumstances. Federal government employees risked exposure to COVID-19 to deliver mail, collect census responses, provide healthcare to veterans, distribute lifesaving stimulus benefits, inspect meat and poultry facilities, and help research therapies and vaccines for COVID-19,” wrote the Members. “Unfortunately, the federal government has a history of chronic underinvestment in its most valuable asset: the federal workforce. The Biden Administration has worked to reverse these trends, providing federal employees a 2.7 percent pay raise in 2022 and removing prohibitions the previous administration placed on union operations and resources.”

“Our nation’s dedicated civil servants deserve respect and fair compensation,” the Members concluded. “We respectfully ask that you provide a pay increase of 5.1 percent for all federal employees in the FY2023 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill.”

In addition to Connolly, the letter was signed by the following Representatives: Don Beyer (D-VA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Anthony Brown (D-MD), Shontel Brown (D-OH), Andre Carson (D-IN), Sean Casten (D-IL), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Danny Davis (D-IL), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Bill Foster (D-IL), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Brian Higgins (D-NY), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Kai Kahele (D-HI), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Conor Lamb (D-PA), Rick Larsen (D-WA), John Larson (D-CT), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Lucy McBath (D-GA), A. Donald McEachin (D-VA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Joe Neguse (D-CO), Marie Newman (D-IL), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Adam Smith (D-WA), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), David Trone (D-MD), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), and John Yarmuth (D-KY).

Full text of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Chairwoman DeLauro, Ranking Member Granger, Chairman Quigley, and Ranking Member Womack:

As you prepare to advance the FY2023 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill, we respectfully request that you include a 5.1 percent pay raise for federal employees for calendar year 2023. The increase is in line with the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act (H.R. 6398), which was introduced in the House of Representatives and has the support of 31 co-sponsors.

Throughout the pandemic, civil servants performed the essential work of the federal government under the most extraordinary circumstances. Federal government employees risked exposure to COVID-19 to deliver mail, collect census responses, provide healthcare to veterans, distribute lifesaving stimulus benefits, inspect meat and poultry facilities, and help research therapies and vaccines for COVID-19.

Unfortunately, the federal government has a history of chronic underinvestment in its most valuable asset: the federal workforce. The Biden Administration has worked to reverse these trends, providing federal employees a 2.7 percent pay raise in 2022 and removing prohibitions the previous administration placed on union operations and resources.

Over the past decade, federal employee pay increases failed to keep pace with rising labor and living costs. Additionally, federal workers weathered multiple pay freezes, hiring freezes, and lost pay as the result of sequestration-related furloughs including two of the longest government shutdowns in U.S. history.

The federal government must remain competitive when hiring the next generation of federal workers. Currently, only 7 percent of the federal workforce is under the age of 30 while the civilian labor force enjoys nearly three times that number. In 2020, the Federal Salary Council stated that federal employees make an average of 23.1 percent less than their private sector counterparts. With almost a third of the federal workforce eligible to retire in five years, we will face a talent crisis if we fail to make basic investments in federal pay that will attract early career talent to federal government service.

Paying our federal workforce a fair wage is also a matter of equity that impacts every community in America. More than 85% of federal workers live outside of the Washington D.C., with 36% of employees living in rural areas. Every congressional district is home to a federal employee. Some of these federal employees, like other Americans, live paycheck to paycheck with nearly 600,000 federal employees making less than $60,000 per year.

Our nation’s dedicated civil servants deserve respect and fair compensation. We respectfully ask that you provide a pay increase of 5.1 percent for all federal employees in the FY2023 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill.

Best Regards,