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Ten Harmful Proposals in the President’s Budget

The administration’s fiscal 2019 budget proposal released Monday contains a long list of anti-federal employee proposals.

While it’s important to remember that this isn’t the final word, the president’s proposal is a stark opening bid in the annual debate over federal spending. The appropriations season starts now and Congress will hear from NTEU at every step about what should be in final agency spending bills.


In the meantime, here are 10 harmful things the budget blueprint would do:

  1. Freeze pay increases for federal civilian employees in 2019. NTEU instead supports legislation giving federal workers a 3 percent adjustment next year.

  2. “Slow the frequency” of step increases in the General Schedule and increase “performance-based pay.”

  3. Increase employee contributions to their retirement, with no increase in benefit, effectively resulting in a pay cut.

  4. Diminish the government’s share toward health insurance premiums.

  5. Combine all leave into one paid time off category, reducing the overall amount of leave available to employees.

  6. Eliminate due process rights that protect employees from being unfairly fired.

  7. Reduce the interest rate the government pays in the Thrift Savings Plan G Fund

  8. Dramatically reduce funding for agencies like the Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Internal Revenue Service and Securities and Exchange Commission, while not providing money for additional Customs and Border Protection Officers.

  9. Underfund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and place it under the appropriation process, destroying its independence and increasing risks of politicizing its functions.

  10. Reduce federal employee workers’ compensation benefits, eliminate family benefits and remove injured workers from the program at retirement age.

Some of the anti-federal employee initiatives may develop into formal legislative proposals, and we will work with our congressional allies to defeat them.