WASHINGTON – President Bush signed an executive order yesterday that provides pay raises this year for federal employees, military personnel, Cabinet officers and members of Congress.
Some workers will receive as much as a 4.49 percent increase under a salary formula that gives higher adjustments to certain metropolitan areas where officials believe federal pay has lagged the private sector the furthest.
The average civil service raise will be 3.5 percent, according to the order.
The base pay for military personnel will rise by an average of 3 percent, but Congress and the White House plan to add 0.5 percent to the military raise after an agreement is reached on an Iraq-related issue in the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill, which Bush rejected last month. Officials said the add-on military raise would be retroactive to Jan. 1.
Salaries for members of the House and Senate will rise to $169,300 from $165,200. Congress did not receive a raise in 2007 because Democrats did not want to accept one while debating an increase in the minimum wage.
Cabinet secretaries will make $191,300, up from $186,600. The vice president's salary will be $221,100, up from $215,700. The president's salary, set by Congress, has been fixed at $400,000 since 2001.
U.S. District Court judges will earn $169,300, a $1,900 increase. The chief justice of the United States will be paid $217,400, up $1,700, and Supreme Court justices will make $208,100, up $1,600.
Officials warn against comparing federal pay with the private sector, in part because it is difficult to match federal job descriptions for the two sectors. It appears, however, that the federal raise for 2008 is not out of line with those planned at some corporations.
