Donald Trump, February 2020: “BEST USA ECONOMY IN HISTORY!” Also Donald Trump, February 2020: “The years of economic decay are over [...] I am thrilled to report to you tonight that our economy is the best it has ever been.”
Donald Trump, yet again in February 2020, justified a move to cap federal worker raises at 1% in 2021 by claiming “national emergency or serious economic conditions.” A raise over 1%, he said, would be “inappropriate.” The raise needs to be limited to “maintain efforts to put our Nation on a fiscally sustainable course.” You know, the “fiscally sustainable course” that Republicans cared not one bit about when they were slashing taxes for corporations and the wealthy, but that’s suddenly a big freaking deal when the question is whether to give federal workers a decent raise.
Trump also plans to freeze the “locality pay increase,” which gives a pay bump to federal workers in expensive areas, at 2020 levels.
Congress does not have to go along with this plan and can do the right thing for federal workers in a spending bill.