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In today's Federal Newscast, the National Treasury Employees Union asked the Office of Personnel Management when federal employees can expect to see the 1.9 percent pay raise recently signed into law.
President Donald Trump signed the 2019 spending bill into law, securing a 1.9 percent pay raise for federal employees that will be retroactive to Jan. 1.
The IRS is still reeling from the effects of the 35-day shutdown that ended last month, according to the agency’s taxpayer watchdog office.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) have reintroduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act, which give federal employees a 3.6 percent pay raise in 2020.
The IRS recalled more than half of its total workforce to work without pay and help issue tax refunds during the partial government shutdown, but some financially hard-pressed employees remain at home, due to a clause in their union's contract.
In today's Federal Newscast, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates there were about $2.3 billion in government contracts that would have been issued to small firms over the past month, but weren't because of the government shutdown.
A federal district judge refused to compel the executive branch to find an immediate end to the government shutdown's impacts on excepted federal employees working without pay. The judge's decision maintains the status quo. Other lawsuits challenging the shutdown's legitimacy are still pending.
The National Treasury Employees Union said excepted federal employees who have been working without pay during the partial government shutdown should be paid full wages, including overtime, and other damages.
The U.S. Coast Guard said its military members won't receive their regularly scheduled paychecks at the end of the month unless Congress passes appropriations or a continuing resolution by Dec. 28.
With a partial government shutdown already putting a damper on holiday plans for federal employees, a significant portion of the IRS's furloughed workforce may have to come into work without pay if the shutdown extends into January.
Several impacted agencies have funding left over to continue to work, but if the shutdown lasts into January more furloughs possible.
The House has passed its own continuing resolution that would fund all of government through Feb. 8 and provide $5 billion toward the southern border. The CR is reportedly a tough sell in the Senate, setting up further anxiety and uncertainty ahead of Friday's partial shutdown deadline.
While Congress has taken steps Wednesday to introduce another continuing resolution and avoid a partial government shutdown, the IRS is prepared to furlough the vast majority of its workforce if lawmakers fail to fund agencies past the Friday midnight deadline.
As some agencies continue planning for a potential lapse in appropriations at the end of the week, a partial government shutdown may pose the biggest risk for employees' holiday vacation plans.