Sen. Brown slams President Trump for potential federal pay freeze

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, urged President Donald Trump to back off a planned pay freeze for civilian federal employees this year.

Brown joined five of his Senate colleagues who sent a letter to Trump about the planned pay freeze. The freeze could impact tens of thousands of workers at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and throughout the greater Dayton area. There are more than 12,000 federal civilian workers at Wright-Patt and more than 15,000 in the Dayton region.

The letter was sent by Senators Brown, Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Ben Cardin (D-MD). Brown said the President should immediately reverse course and give these workers the raises they have earned through hard work.

“Our billionaire president is denying these workers the cost of living increase they have earned. It’s no surprise that after handing out more than $1 trillion in tax breaks to wealthy corporations and the top 1 percent, President Trump is now proposing to pay for the hole he blew in the deficit by denying federal workers their pay increase,” Brown said. “These 15,000 Dayton area workers help support Wright-Patterson’s national defense efforts, and they deserve to have their wages keep up with the cost of living.”

The Office of Personnel Management says employees would remain eligible for raises in 2019, as they were from 2011 to 2013, through promotion or advancing up pay grades. Members of the military will not be impacted and are set for a 2.6 percent pay increase.

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