Bipartisan House group asks Trump to bump federal pay

A dozen members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are pressing the president to align federal pay for military and civilian employees and bump it above his proposed levels.

In August, the White House issued an alternative pay plan that outlined a 2.1 percent pay increase for military members and a 1.9 increase for civilian employees, figures that match the White House's fiscal year 2018 budget request.

In a Dec. 1 letter, the members push for President Donald Trump to offer pay parity for military and civilian employees, giving everyone the 2.4 percent bump included for service members in the fiscal year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.

The Republican signers are Reps. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Peter King (R-N.Y.), Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) and David McKinley (R-W.Va.).

Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Eleanor Norton (D-D.C.), Donald Beyer (D-Va.), Anthony Brown (D-Md.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) also signed the letter.

"We feel strongly that federal employees are an asset to the federal government and deserve parity with respect to pay increases for the military and for civilian employees," they wrote. "We believe this is crucial to recruiting and retaining the talent necessary for an innovative and effective federal workforce.... We should not take them for granted."

In seeking the 2.4 percent pay increase for both military and civilian employees, the members of Congress noted that "with very few exceptions there has been parity with respect to pay increases for military and civilian federal employees."