With its August recess set to start at the end of next week, Congress is moving ahead with several bills of importance to federal employees and retirees. The Senate Appropriations Committee has started drafting the key funding bill, the general government measure, with no mention so far of an intent regarding a January 2014 federal pay raise; other bills, including the House counterpart, have been silent about a raise. Silence in the bills wouldn’t necessarily mean that salary rates will remain frozen for a fourth year, however. Although having an endorsement of a raise in an appropriations bill – especially the general government bill — at this stage of the process would improve the chances, there are several scenarios that could result in a raise being paid without one. Congress could yet specify a raise, and if it doesn’t the White House could set an increase by executive order—subject to being overridden by a later law.
