President Joe Biden is expected to propose a 5.2% raise for federal employees in his fiscal year budget that begins Oct. 1, The Washington Post reported.
The pay raise for federal employees would be the largest proposed increase in more than 40 years, and it would go into effect in January, the Post reported Wednesday.
The newspaper based its news on a senior federal official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Another official confirmed the proposal, the Post said.
The rate increase would fall short of the 8.7% raise called for in legislation introduced in the House and Senate and backed by several Democrats and federal employee unions.
Biden's budget is set to be released Thursday, the Post said.
The president's proposal, which would be the largest pay increase since a 9.1% increase in 1980, would affect 2.1 million executive branch employees.
House Republicans, who own a majority in the chamber and have pledged to reduce federal spending, likely will oppose an increase of that size.
GOP lawmakers also have vowed to better hold the federal workforce accountable for what they consider to be poor customer service at some agencies.
"President Biden is continuing to ensure that federal workers' pay and benefits are insulated from the price-tag of inflation, but it will be paid for by American taxpayers who continue to be harmed by the Biden administration's inflationary policies," House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement, the Post reported.
"We should be putting American taxpayers first, not the federal bureaucracy."
Biden's proposal underscores his alliance with labor as he prepares to run for reelection. However, the federal government's largest unions refrained from endorsing the proposal because they're seeking a larger increase.
"While we recognize the significance of this pay raise, more must be done to keep up with inflation and to begin to make serious progress in closing the double-digit pay gap between federal employees and their private sector counterparts," Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, told the Post in an email.
Democrat lawmakers have pledged to fight for a significant pay increase.
"Paying our civilian and military employees ought to be a bipartisan issue, and I hope my Republican colleagues work alongside Democrats this year on a strong adjustment that can meet their needs," Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., whose district includes thousands of federal workers, said in a statement, the Post reported.