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By: FEDweek StaffUpdated: Congress on Friday passed a wrapup spending bill for federal agencies through the remainder of the current fiscal year. By remaining silent on a pay, the bill cleared the way for President Biden to finalize the average 4.6 percent boost he had proposed. He has now issued an executive order putting in place a 4.6 percent average raise that takes effect in the first pay period for 2023.
The raise is split, with a 4.1 percent increase across the board and the remaining 0.5 percentage points divided up as locality pay.
While the raise technically will apply only to GS employees, the spending bill continues long-standing language generally capping raises for wage grade employees at the local GS increase. For SES and other senior level employees paid within ranges, the maximums are to increase by the across-the-board component of the GS raise.
The bill meanwhile represented the last best chance for this Congress to prevent a future administration from shifting competitive service federal employees involved with policy matters into the excepted service through an executive order. Then-President Trump issued such an order in late 2020—potentially stripping most civil service protections from many thousands of employees—although agencies had taken only limited steps to carry it out before President Biden revoked that order soon after taking office.
The House had passed such a ban as a separate bill and as an attachment to a separate defense spending bill. But despite a push by some Senate Democrats to accept it, the language was dropped from the final version of the defense bill and did not make it into the wrapup bill.
While inaction regarding a Schedule F will have no immediate impact, there are only slim chances that the House will agree to such a ban with Republicans in control there in the 2023-2024 Congress. It’s generally expected that a future GOP-controlled White House would seek to reinstate the order or one like it.
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See also,
The Process of Retiring: Last-Minute Changes
The Process of Retiring: Check Your Agency’s Work
FERS Retirement Planning Bundle: 2022 FERS Guide & TSP Handbook
