Pay Raise Allowed, Sequestration Pressure Relieved

The deal also allows a 1 percent federal employee pay raise to take effect in 2014, which will be payable as of the first full pay period of the year and will be across-the-board with no locality component, according to previously announced plans. That will be the first increase in pay scales after a three-year freeze and would apply to everyone except members of Congress. The deal also cuts in half the required sequestration savings over fiscal 2014 and 2015, which should relieve much, but not necessarily all, of the pressure that triggered widespread furloughs earlier this year in many agencies. It would end the threat of another partial government shutdown due to current spending authority being set to expire January 15, although it would not address the separate issue of hitting the federal debt ceiling in early February.