The key annual appropriations bill for determining the next year’s federal raise, the financial services-general government bill, has started moving in the House—a floor vote could be held within the next week or two—without any provision regarding a raise. The other spending bills that both the House and Senate have drafted so far also are either silent regarding a raise or say that if one is paid, agencies would have to absorb the cost out of their general overhead accounts; in a series of similar comments on those bills, the White House has urged Congress to support the 1 percent raise it has proposed. Spending bills the House had crafted by this time last year specifically sought to deny a raise, following House passage of several prior bills that had endorsed a continued salary rate freeze. This year in contrast the House has not explicitly voted in any form to continue the freeze. It has passed three of the 12 regular spending bills for the upcoming fiscal year and before the August recess it plans to vote on several more, including the general government bill. The Senate is not as far along in general and it has not yet produced even a first draft counterpart to that bill.