In an August 27th letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris (in her capacity as President of the Senate) President Joe Biden announced that he was invoking his legal authority under “national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare” to increase salaries for roughly two million members of the federal civilian workforce.

Government is horribly inefficient, sometimes incompetent and most times ineffective.  The most recent and memorable example is the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.  And yet unionized workers get a pay raise?  This is the “national emergency” Biden seeks to address?  And with taxpayer funds?  C’mon!

According to the Federal Times federal workers who were scheduled to receive a 1.9% raise this year will enjoy a 2.7% bump thanks to the President’s action.  This taxpayer-funded increase is especially generous because the average federal worker already makes significantly more than the average person toiling away in the productive economy.

According to the Office of Personnel Management which keeps, stores and tallies such information the average federal employee now has a salary (excluding benefits) of $90,510.  Data as of December 2020.

For comparison the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the average annual wage across all private sector occupations was just $56,310.  Data as of May 2020.

So who’s happy?  Unlikely it’s taxpayers.  How ‘bout the unions?

“We appreciate President Biden’s desire to give federal employees a pay raise in 2022 – especially one that includes an increase in locality pay rates.  This is a vast improvement over the previous administration’s attempts to freeze federal pay.”

Tony Reardon – President of The National Treasury Employees Union

“With his proposed 2.7% average pay increase for the civil service Biden is demonstrating respect for hard-working civil servants and the jobs they do as well as a commitment to recruitment and retention of talented federal employees.”

Ken Thomas – President of The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association