Trump's Federal Worker Pay Freeze: Equal Pay For Equal Work

Trump's Federal Worker Pay Freeze: Equal Pay For Equal Work

What Comes After Trump's Federal Pay Freeze: Why Not Equal Pay For Equal Work?

8/31/2018

Federal Pay: After President Trump announced he wants to revoke federal workers' automatic 2.1% pay raise this year, the response was predictable. Democrats and government unions squealed. The only really surprising thing is that Trump didn't do it sooner.

"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 in a letter to Congress.
The move brought a near-instantaneous response. "Cutting federal pay is not the way to run the best government possible or to recruit and retain the most talented Americans to serve their fellow countrymen," No. 2 House Democrat Steny Hoyer said.
California Democrat Eric Swalwell was more succinct, tweeting out that Trump had "screwed" federal workers.
Despite the wailing on the left, Trump's move shouldn't be controversial. What he described is exactly how private employees get compensated. Why should government employees be any different? The truth is, by any reasonable measure a federal employee makes way more than a private worker for doing the same job. But federal workers don't have to answer to a marketplace. Once hired, it's almost impossible to fire them. And it's equally difficult to tell whether a federal worker is productive. How do you measure a bureaucrat's output?
By the way, Trump's move doesn't include the military. They got a 2.4% pay hike last year, and will get 2.6% this year. It's the 2.1 million federal workers, who got a 1.4% pay hike last year, that will get nothing. Unless, that is, Congress rejects his move.
Before you bring out a violin, please note: Bureau of Economic Analysis data show that in 2016, federal government workers had average total compensation — wages, benefits, vacation, etc. — of $127,259 a year. For the private sector, it's just $70,764. So federal workers make 80% more than private ones, an absurd and unsustainable gap. As recently as 1990, the difference was just 30%.

Washington, D.C.: Fat City

This is a big reason why the counties around Washington, D.C. are today the nation's wealthiest. Of the 21 major sectors in the U.S. economy, federal government workers are No. 3 in terms of pay, behind only utilities and the managers of companies. That's why even some Republicans wince at the thought of not automatically raising federal pay; it would affect their constituencies too.
By the way, Trump isn't being a grinch. Recall that President Obama also imposed a partial freeze on federal employee pay in 2011. It's gotten out of hand.
Once again, the problem is spending. Big departments spend huge sums on workers, whether they're needed or not, and whether they're productive or not, then promote them. It's time to "right-size" our federal bureaucracy, cutting unnecessary programs and making managers choose the workers they need to accomplish goals.
Federal workers have fed at the public trough for too long. The left's mantra for years has been "equal pay for equal work." We agree. With federal deficits now at close to $1 trillion, it's belt-tightening time.