Because reporters did their jobs, the country became aware of a plan to give top Trump officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, a pay raise. That raise should have gone into effect on Friday, but the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) halted those raises until the government reopens.
Late breaking news from @USOPM following our story on pay raises for top Trump political appointees: Memo from acting director Margaret Weichert directs agencies to stand down on enacting the raises until Congress acts. Prudent action taken only after the raises were made public
— Lisa Rein (@Reinlwapo) January 5, 2019
OPM acting director Margaret Weichert determined that no raises would be given while federal workers are not being paid. Until Trump backs down on his demands for five billion dollars in funding, because it doesn’t appear that congressional Democrats intend to back down at all in their refusal to fund Trump’s vanity project, Trump’s people will not receive any boosts in pay.
According to the NY Post:
‘In the current absence of Congressional guidance [OPM] believes it would be prudent for agencies to continue to pay these senior political officials at the frozen rate until appropriations legislation is enacted that would clarify the status of the freeze.’
Pence had already refused the raise. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement once again blaming Democrats for the shutdown despite video of Trump owning it and saying that he would “take the mantle.” Sanders said that the halted pay raises were “another unnecessary byproduct of the shutdown” and that Congress “can easily take care of this by funding the government and securing our borders.” She did not mention that Congress has already given Trump an approved spending bill. He declined to sign it.
Twitter felt the ruling was justified. Read some of their comments below:
Featured image via Flickr by Matt Wade under a Creative Commons license
