A significant trickle of Republican House members are joining ranks with Democrats to oppose President Trump’s August 30 declaration that he will freeze Federal civilian pay for calendar-year 2019.
In letters released on Friday to House and Senate leadership released on Friday, 159 House Democrats expressed their opposition to the wage freeze, and said they stand by a 1.9 percent Federal pay adjustment already approved by the Senate for FY 2019.
At the same time, a small group of House members–many from across the aisle–released their own letter opposing the pay freeze. A total of 23 representatives and delegates signed that letter, including 15 Republicans.
“While we applaud efforts to be fiscally responsible, these scheduled pay raises are overdue for our hardworking Federal employees and provide incentives to recruit and retain a strong Federal workforce,” the group of 23 said.
The two groups writing letters to oppose the freeze total 182 House members and non-voting delegates, representing about 41 percent of House membership.
