said federal employees are likely to get a 1.9 percent pay hike in the spending deal to keep open the government. That would override the salary rate freeze that President Trump imposed on federal employees in late December because Congress had not acted. Back pay for federal employees has been approved, although many have not yet received their full amounts. Among the measures in the deal is the one covering general government matters, where annual federal pay raises are specified. Federal employees were paid raises retroactively in 2003 and 2004 during the George W. Bush administration when final agency funding similarly hadn’t been resolved until past the start of the new year.

Source: Washington Post February 13, 2019 21:33 UTC