Alex Wong/Getty Images President Donald Trump
- President Donald Trump announced that most civilian federal workers will not receive pay raises in 2019, saying he made the move because of fiscal constraints.
- Trump said the pay raises would cost the federal government $25 billion, and canceling the raises will "put our nation on a fiscally sustainable course."
- At the same time, the tax reform law passed by Trump and Republicans in Congress is projected to add $190 billion to the federal deficit in 2019.
Most federal civilian employees won't be getting a pay raise in 2019 following a declaration from President Donald Trump.
Trump cited the cost of the raises, $25 billion, as reason for the cancellation.
"We must maintain efforts to put our nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases.," Trump said in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
There may be some pay raises on a performance basis, but across-the-board increases won't happen, Trump said.
"In light of our nation's fiscal situation, federal employee pay must be performance-based, and aligned strategically toward recruiting, retaining, and rewarding high-performing Federal employees and those with critical skill sets," Trump wrote. "Across-the-board pay increases and locality pay increases, in particular, have long-term fixed costs, yet fail to address existing pay disparities or target mission critical recruitment and retention goals."
According to a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the tax reform law touted by Trump and passed by the GOP will add $1.9 trillion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years, including reduced revenues and debt service payments. That means the law is adding about $190 billion a year to the deficit.
The CBO also estimated that due in part to the tax law, the annual US federal deficit would exceed $1 trillion by 2019.
Additionally, the White House's Office of Management and Budget projected that the tax bill will add $230 billion to the federal deficit in 2019 - almost 10 times the cost of the canceled raises.