Kaine Statement on Trump Eliminating Federal Employee Pay Increase

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement after President Trump announced he will try to deny federal employees a 2.1 percent cost of living adjustment in 2019:

“President Trump is trying to deny over a million Americans the pay they’ve earned. Yet again, this President is attacking our hardworking public servants and hurting our ability to hire and keep dedicated workers. It’s insulting to blame these unfair pay cuts on ‘economic conditions’ as President Trump’s policies have lined his own pockets and blown up the debt projections by trillions of dollars.”

Congress passed legislation approving a cost of living adjustment (COLA) to ensure federal employee wages keep up with inflation. Virginia is home to more than 170,000 civilian federal employees, one of the highest concentrations in the country. Trump’s pay cut would disproportionately hurt veterans, who make up one-third of the federal workforce. Taking away this COLA will also have no impact on the deficit as the Senate already voted to appropriate the funds.