In most years, the president\u2019s budget request sets the opening proposal for the following year\u2019s pay raise, typically for both civilian federal employees and military members.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration is requesting a 5-7% pay raise<\/a> for military members in 2027, based on rank.<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n \u201cThis enduring investment, far higher than the standard annual military pay raise, builds on the president\u2019s recruiting and retention success and gives our men and women in uniform the resources they deserve,\u201d the White House wrote.<\/p>\n The budget request highlights the administration\u2019s priorities, but actual appropriations are determined by Congress. In some past years, lawmakers have intervened to put forward a different pay raise amount than the president\u2019s request for federal employees.<\/p>\n Most civilian federal employees received a 1% pay raise<\/a> for 2026 \u2014 the smallest pay increase federal employees have received since 2021. Federal law enforcement personnel saw a larger 3.8% raise<\/a> this year, in line with the military\u2019s pay raise for 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n Democrats have called for a substantially larger federal pay raise in 2027. The FAIR Act<\/a>, led by Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.), would provide a 4.1% pay increase for civilian federal employees next year.<\/p>\n \u201cFor 15 months, the Trump administration has attacked federal employees through reckless DOGE policies, used them as political leverage through two shutdowns and offered a meager 1% raise in the current fiscal year,\u201d Walkinshaw said Friday. \u201cThis budget continues that pattern with an insulting pay freeze, chainsaw slashes to key federal agencies and no meaningful investment to retain the workforce that continues to serve the American people despite the abuse from the administration and Republican Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year\u2019s budget request from the White House also did not include mention of a federal pay raise. It wasn\u2019t until August that President Donald Trump issued an alternative pay plan<\/a>, proposing a 1% increase for most civilian employees and a 3.8% raise for civilian law enforcement personnel. In most years, presidents issue alternative pay plans for a federal raise, avoiding what would be a much larger increase by default under the 1990 Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA).<\/p>\n The disparity between the proposed civilian and military pay raises appears to align with the Trump administration\u2019s budget priorities more broadly for the coming fiscal year.<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n The White House is requesting $1.5 trillion<\/a> in defense spending for 2027, which is 42% \u2014 or $445 billion \u2014 over 2026 defense spending levels. It\u2019s the largest defense budget request in decades.<\/p>\n In contrast, the administration is seeking a cut<\/a> of about $73 billion in non-defense spending \u2014 a 10% decrease from current enacted spending levels for civilian agencies. The budget proposal seeks to move some civilian agency responsibilities to state and local governments.<\/p>\n \u201cSavings are achieved by reducing or eliminating woke, weaponized and wasteful programs, and by returning state and local responsibilities to their respective governments,\u201d the White House wrote.<\/p>\n The new budget request highlighted the Trump administration\u2019s push to downsize the federal workforce over the last year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe budget \u2026 supports President Trump\u2019s goal of building a smaller, more efficient federal government by eliminating jobs dedicated to non-essential and non-statutory functions, removing poor performers and limiting hiring to essential jobs,\u201d the White House wrote in an analytical perspectives<\/a> addendum to Friday\u2019s budget proposal. \u201cSignificant progress has already been made in this effort, with approximately 300,000 federal employees exiting government service in 2025, the largest reduction of the federal workforce in American history.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not entirely clear how much further the administration plans to adjust the overall size of the federal workforce, but the budget request\u2019s estimates of agency headcounts for 2026 and 2027 include staffing increases at least at some agencies, including the departments of Justice and Veterans Affairs. Most agencies, however, are expected to remain below 2024 staffing levels, according to the budget proposal.<\/p>\n The White House also pointed to the administration\u2019s President\u2019s Management Agenda<\/a>, which includes goals of promoting \u201cmerit-based\u201d hiring, removing poor performers and eliminating \u201cnon-essential, non-statutory\u201d federal jobs. The budget request included data on staffing levels across executive branch agencies, reporting declines across nearly all agencies between 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n The budget request also included supplemental information on federal workforce age demographics \u2014 comparing the share of federal employees under age 30, versus those 60 and older. The portion of the federal workforce under age 30 declined from about 8.6% in 2023 to about 7.3% in 2025, the workforce data shows.<\/p>\n Trump administration officials have expressed interest in boosting early-career employment across government. Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor called the under-30 age demographic a priority<\/a> for the federal workforce. Some of OPM\u2019s current hiring initiatives, such as the U.S. Tech Force,<\/a> aim to encourage younger employees to join public service, at least temporarily.<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n![\"Federal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/federal-employees-graph.png\")
Source: Office of Management and Budget.<\/p>\n