Trump proposes civilian pay freeze while boosting appointee salaries

The Trump administration is moving to freeze pay for federal civilian employees in 2026 while simultaneously enabling top-tier salaries for low-level political appointees, deepening concerns over the administration’s reshaping of the federal workforce.

According to budget guidance obtained by Government Executive, OMB has directed agencies to prepare for a civilian pay freeze in calendar year 2026. This would be the first pay freeze since 2013 and comes amid an aggressive push by the White House to downsize the federal workforce through attrition, mass terminations, and buyout incentives.

OMB did not comment, but lawmakers have. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) decried the move as “a cruel, unprecedented assault” on civil servants. “A pay freeze is the latest in a long line of insults,” Connolly said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a separate 10 April OPM memo also reported by GovExec encourages agencies to offer maximum salaries—up to $195,200—to schedule C political appointees and removes career HR personnel from the process of vetting or setting their pay. Traditionally, HR reviewed qualifications and ensured compliance; now, that authority is centralized under the White House liaison.

Federal HR veterans say the change opens the door to politicized placements without merit oversight. The memo “will take people who are totally unqualified and put them in whatever positions and at whatever salary the White House sets,” one source familiar with agency processes said.

Jason Briefel, of the Senior Executives Association, warned of “a shitload of schedule C employees making $195,200,” calling the policy part of a broader effort to sideline career experts in favor of loyalists.

This bifurcated policy—frozen wages for career staff and premium pay for political hires—signals a continued erosion of nonpartisan public service at a time of institutional stress.