GS Pay Raise 2027: 0% Under the Current Pay Plan

On August 26, 2026 the President transmitted to Congress an alternative plan for 2027 pay adjustments. For General Schedule employees it sets both the base pay adjustment and the locality pay adjustment at zero. Law enforcement personnel are handled separately, with a 3.8 percent increase to be delivered by OPM. This page describes what that plan sets, what is not yet decided, and what an unchanged pay table means for a biweekly paycheck. It is a status report, not a forecast.

What the August 26 Plan Sets

The letter's operative sentence for civilian employees is: "I have determined that for 2027, base pay and locality pay for civilian Federal employees will not change from the 2026 rates." It also states that the adjustment is being set "at zero" under 5 U.S.C. 5303(b) and 5 U.S.C. 5304a. Source: House Document 119-189 (govinfo).

What the Plan Displaced

The letter describes what would have happened without it. Under 5 U.S.C. §5303(a), the base General Schedule would have risen by 3.1 percent across the board. Under 5 U.S.C. §5304, the letter says locality pay "would automatically increase by an average of 20.6 percent" at a first-year cost of $26 billion. Both figures are quoted from the letter; this site has not independently recomputed them. Every President since the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 has used the alternative plan authority in some form, so the full statutory locality adjustment has never been paid.

Law Enforcement: the 3.8 Percent

The letter directs OPM to "use its statutory authority to increase 2027 compensation for law enforcement personnel by 3.8 percent" and states that this "is part of a separate process from the establishment of this alternative pay plan." OPM's notice on 2027 law enforcement special rates says it will use its special salary rate authority under 5 U.S.C. §5305 and 5 CFR part 530, subpart C, that employees covered by the special rate tables OPM established for 2026 will continue to be covered in 2027, and that it intends to apply a 3.8-percent total increase with a tentative effective date of January 10, 2027. OPM also notes that special rates are capped at Executive Schedule Level IV ($197,200 in 2026), which reduces the increase for a limited number of employees near the cap. Source: OPM, 2027 Special Rates for Certain Law Enforcement Personnel.

If you are not on a law enforcement special rate table, this increase does not apply to you.

Timeline: From Letter to Pay Table

The December Executive Order is what actually publishes the schedules. Executive Order 14368 (December 18, 2025; 90 FR 60521) set the 2026 General Schedule, and Executive Order 14132 (December 23, 2024; 89 FR 106963) set the 2025 schedule. Based on that pattern, final 2027 rates are expected by Executive Order in late December 2026. Sources: EO 14368, Federal Register; EO 14132, Federal Register.

How Congress Could Still Change It

The alternative plan governs only if Congress does not legislate a different adjustment. Congress has done so in past years through a general provision in the Financial Services and General Government appropriations act. Two vehicles matter for 2027:

Before the Executive Order. The continuing resolution enacted September 2, 2026 funds agencies through December 11, 2026 and contains no provision on the 2027 pay adjustment. A full-year appropriations act or a further continuing resolution enacted before the December order could include one. Source: Public Law 119-103 (govinfo).

After the Executive Order. An appropriations provision enacted after the order would still control, because the order implements the plan "in accordance with" 5 U.S.C. §5303(b), and a later statute can direct a different adjustment. In that case OPM would issue revised tables.

One bill is on the record. H.R. 7480, the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act, introduced February 10, 2026, would set the 2027 adjustment under 5 U.S.C. §5303 at 3.1 percent and the locality adjustment under 5 U.S.C. §5304 at 1 percent. It has been introduced, not enacted, and this page does not treat it as a likely outcome. Source: H.R. 7480 text (govinfo).

Still Unpublished for 2027

A frozen pay table does not freeze your paycheck. Four other inputs to net pay are set annually by other agencies, and none had been published for 2027 as of September 28, 2026. The dates below are when the 2026 figures were released, which is the best guide to timing.

What an Unchanged Table Means Per Paycheck

The three rows below show what an unchanged 2026 rate produces per biweekly pay period for three grade, step, and locality combinations, using the same method as the calculator. The last two columns are a counterfactual: what the paycheck would look like if the 3.1 percent across-the-board base increase described in the letter had taken effect, with locality percentages held at 2026 levels. That counterfactual covers base pay only. It deliberately excludes the average 20.6 percent locality increase the letter also describes, because that figure is an average across areas and cannot be applied to a single locality without OPM's area-by-area schedule.

Two things stand out. First, the net difference is about 53 to 72 percent of the gross difference in these rows, because FERS, TSP, Social Security, Medicare, and income taxes all scale with the increase. Second, the size of the counterfactual grows with locality percentage, since a base increase is multiplied by the locality rate.

Downstream Effects of No Change

An unchanged basic pay rate leaves your FERS contribution, TSP percentage contribution, FEGLI Basic Insurance Amount, and high-3 average salary where they were. It does not lower any of them. The practical effect is on the items that do change independently: if 2027 FEHB premiums rise, your net pay falls by that amount; if the 2027 standard deduction and bracket thresholds rise with inflation, withholding on the same gross pay falls slightly. The calculator will be updated when each of those inputs is published.