House Republicans urge Trump to reconsider opposition to federal pay hike [View all]
Source: Washington Post
In a rare break with President Trump, a growing number of congressional Republicans are calling on him to reverse his opposition to giving federal employees a pay raise next year, warning his stance could hurt the party in November’s midterm elections.
Some GOP lawmakers fear denying even a small pay increase to the 2.1 million civil servants across the country could be politically damaging in House districts the GOP is defending this fall, particularly those with heavy concentrations of federal workers that provide support to military bases.
“Look, a lot of members have a significant federal presence in their district and feel very strongly about this,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), whose constituents include more than 20,000 federal workers, the majority at Tinker Air Force Base.
“The idea that people who are comparatively well-off get tax cuts and we’re not going to help federal employees get a reasonable raise . . . I think it’s a signal to the workforce about how they’re valued,” added Cole, who was among 23 House lawmakers who sent a letter to Trump last week urging him to reconsider his position.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-republicans-urge-trump-to-reconsider-opposition-to-federal-pay-hike/2018/09/12/86d31fee-b2c8-11e8-a20b-5f4f84429666_story.html?utm_term=.3633ceb70a1f
September 12 at 8:43 PM was when the story was posted at WaPo, so less than 12 hours ago
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