On Thursday, President Trump informed Congress in a letter that he intends to freeze the salaries of 2 million federal workers in 2019, seeking to avert an automatic 2.1 percent raise. "We must maintain efforts to put our nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases," the president wrote. He cited authority used by himself and previous presidents to scrap raises "because of 'national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare.'" Congress can override Trump's request, but his proposal and potential veto increases the likelihood of a pre-election government shutdown — the House has passed legislation with no mention of pay raises while the Senate set a 1.9 percent raise. The House and Senate already have to iron out differences on Trump's proposed border wall and cuts to social programs.
Lawmakers, mostly Democrats, and federal unions criticized the move, pointing to the deficit-busting $1.5 trillion tax cut Trump signed last December, his apparent general antipathy to the federal workforce, and his proclamations that America's economy is the best it has ever been.
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