President Obama spoke to reporters at the White House Dec. 19, before heading to Hawaii for Christmas.

President Obama spoke to reporters at the White House Dec. 19, before heading to Hawaii for Christmas. Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

Obama Makes it Official: 1 Percent Pay Raise For 2015

President issues order implementing increase for civilian federal employees and uniformed military service members.

President Obama issued an executive order Friday implementing a 1 percent across the board pay increase for federal employees under the General Schedule in 2014.

The salary boost marks the second 1 percent increase in a row for the entire white-collar federal workforce. Before that, a three-year pay freeze had been in effect.

The order also implements a 1 percent pay raise for uniformed military service members. That raise was included in the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, which Obama signed Friday.

“I am pleased that federal employees will be receiving a pay raise in January,” said National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley. “Though the workforce deserves and appreciates this raise, I remain concerned about the widening gap between federal and private-sector pay.”

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who helped craft the recent massive fiscal 2015 spending bill that included the civilian pay raise, said “this pay increase for federal workers is well-deserved and appropriate, and I’m pleased that the president has made good on the plan that we worked out as part of the omnibus budget.”