Democratic members of Congress from the Washington D.C. area sent a letter to the heads of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Tuesday asking when the White House plans to implement the 1.9 percent annual pay raise for Federal civilian workers included in the spending bill passed in February that avoided a further partial government shutdown.
“Given the continued impacts of the recent shutdown, any delay in implementing the 1.9 percent pay raise enacted into law is unacceptable. It is also imperative that retroactive lump sum payments be calculated in accordance with this pay increase,” the letter from the National Capitol Region Congressional Delegation states.
To bring the pay raise into effect, the President must issue an executive order authorizing the raise, and OPM must publish new pay tables. While the Consolidated Appropriations Act was signed into law last month, the White House has not yet taken either of these steps.
The delegation requested a response from OPM and OMB by March 15. The letter follows a similar letter from Maryland and Virginia senators last week.
The letter was signed by Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., Elijah Cummings, D-Md., Elanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., John Sarbanes, D-Md., Don Beyer, D-Va., Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Anthony Brown, D-Md., Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., and David Trone, D-Md.