A new bill introduced in Congress would set a 4.1% pay raise for federal employees in 2027, launching the annual fight over next year’s civilian pay adjustment and putting early pressure on lawmakers and the White House to address federal compensation.
- Proposed raise: 4.1% across-the-board federal civilian pay increase for calendar year 2027, according to FedSmith.
- Who would be covered: The proposal would apply to General Schedule (GS) employees and other covered civilian pay systems, and would include locality pay, FedSmith reported.
- Status: The measure is a bill proposal and would require passage by Congress and action by the president to become law, per FedSmith.
- Why it matters now: Even though 2027 is more than a year away, early pay bills typically frame the negotiation over the next year’s pay adjustment and can influence later budget and policy talks, FedSmith noted.
- What employees should watch: Whether the proposal advances in committee, whether competing pay figures emerge, and how the administration signals its position during the next budget cycle. (For current pay tables and locality comparisons, see FedInfo’s federal pay resources: https://fedinfo.org/.)
The 4.1% proposal arrives as Congress begins its yearly debate over the size and structure of the next federal pay adjustment. Under the modern pay framework, federal raises generally combine a base increase with locality pay adjustments, with final outcomes often shaped by broader budget negotiations and administration policy. FedSmith characterized the new bill as an opening marker for that process, rather than a guaranteed outcome.
For federal employees, the key takeaway is that this is an opening bid that could set expectations for 2027 pay—especially for GS employees whose salaries are directly tied to annual pay tables and locality rates. If enacted as written, a 4.1% increase would raise basic pay and, depending on implementation, could flow through to locality-adjusted salaries. Employees should also keep an eye on how any proposed raise interacts with other compensation issues—such as recruitment and retention incentives and pay compression—because those factors can shape negotiations even when the headline number is set early.
Source: FedSmith, “Federal Employees Could See 4.1% Pay Raise in 2027 Under New Bill” (Feb. 11, 2026): https://www.fedsmith.com/2026/02/11/federal-employees-could-see-4-1-pay-raise-in-2027-under-new-bill/