Florida’s 138,000 federal workers won’t be getting a pay raise if President Trump gets his way

By: Mitch Perry - August 31, 2018 3:37 pm

President Donald Trump has informed leaders in Congress that an across-the-board 2.1 percent pay increase for federal workers scheduled to take effect in January would be “inappropriate,” potentially denying a bump in pay for the more than 138,000 federal employees who live and work in Florida.

“We must maintain efforts to put our nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and Federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases,” Trump wrote in a letter to congressional leaders on Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Congress can over override his decision, and organized labor officials representing federal workers and advocates are urging that they do so.

Florida has over 138,000 federal employees, according to Governing Magazine (as of June of 2017). That includes more than 57,000 active duty military, and nearly 29,000 employees who work at the Department of Veteran Affairs. Trump did sign a bill earlier this month giving military troops a 2.6 percent raise as a part of a larger military bill.

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Mitch Perry

Mitch Perry has covered politics and government in Florida for more than two decades. Most recently he is the former politics reporter for Bay News 9. He has also worked at Florida Politics, Creative Loafing and WMNF Radio in Tampa. He was also part of the original staff when the Florida Phoenix was created in 2018.