Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay
Signed: December 18, 2025
Published: December 23, 2025
Document Number: 2025-23844
📋Summary
This executive order updates and publishes the 2026 pay schedules for many federal pay systems, including the General Schedule, Foreign Service, Veterans Health Administration, Senior Executive Service, Executive Schedule, Congress and the Vice President, federal judges, administrative law judges, and the uniformed services. It affects federal civilian employees covered by these systems, senior executives, certain elected and appointed officials, judges, administrative law judges, and service members (including cadets and midshipmen). It directs the Office of Personnel Management to implement updated locality pay rates and to consider whether certain federal civilian law enforcement personnel should receive up to a total pay increase of 3.8% (counting the general increase already provided). Most changes take effect with the first pay period starting on or after January 1, 2026, while uniformed services pay takes effect January 1, 2026, and it replaces the prior 2024 pay-adjustment executive order as of those effective dates.
💼Business Impact
This order raises federal pay rates (General Schedule, SES, uniformed services, VA/VHA, and related schedules) and updates locality pay effective early January 2026, which most affects businesses that compete directly with government for talent—defense and federal contractors, cybersecurity/IT, healthcare (especially clinicians competing with VA), law enforcement/security services, and firms in high-locality-pay metros. While it doesn’t impose new private-sector compliance obligations, it will likely increase wage pressure and recruiting/retention risk for roles that benchmark to GS/SES or hire former federal employees; it also creates an opportunity for contractors to justify higher labor rates in bids and to revisit escalation assumptions tied to federal pay indices. Immediate actions: compare your key roles to the new GS/locality tables for your locations, update 2026 compensation budgets and proposal labor-rate escalations accordingly, and for federal contractors, review contract clauses (e.g., allowable cost/price adjustment and labor category mapping) to determine whether and how to request rate adjustments or incorporate the new pay baselines in upcoming proposals.
Full Text
Executive Order 14368 of December 18, 2025
Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1 . Statutory Pay Systems. The rates of basic pay or salaries of the statutory pay systems (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5302(1)), as adjusted under 5 U.S.C. 5303, are set forth on the schedules attached hereto and made a part hereof:
(a) The General Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5332(a)) at Schedule 1;
(b) The Foreign Service Schedule (22 U.S.C. 3963) at Schedule 2; and
(c) The schedules for the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs (38 U.S.C. 7306, 7401, 7404; section 301(a) of Public Law 102-40) at Schedule 3.
Sec. 2 . Senior Executive Service. The ranges of rates of basic pay for senior executives in the Senior Executive Service, as established pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5382, are set forth on Schedule 4 attached hereto and made a part hereof.
Sec. 3 . Certain Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries. The rates of basic pay or salaries for the following offices and positions are set forth on the schedules attached hereto and made a part hereof:
(a) The Executive Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5311-5318) at Schedule 5;
(b) The Vice President (3 U.S.C. 104) and the Congress (2 U.S.C. 4501) at Schedule 6; and
(c) Justices and judges (28 U.S.C. 5, 44(d), 135, 252, and 461(a)) at Schedule 7.
Sec. 4 . Uniformed Services and Other. The rates of monthly basic pay (37 U.S.C. 203(a)) for members of the uniformed services, as adjusted under 37 U.S.C. 1009, and the rate of monthly cadet or midshipman pay (37 U.S.C. 203(c)) are set forth on Schedule 8 attached hereto and made a part hereof. Additionally, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (Director) is directed to assess whether to provide up to a total increase of 3.8 percent (inclusive of the increase provided under Section 1) to the rates of pay of certain Federal civilian law enforcement personnel, as determined by the Director following coordination with agencies and consistent with 5 U.S.C. 5305.
Sec. 5 . Locality-Based Comparability Payments. (a) Pursuant to section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, and my authority to implement an alternative level of comparability payments under section 5304a of title 5, United States Code, locality-based comparability payments shall be paid in accordance with Schedule 9 attached hereto and made a part hereof.
(b) The Director shall take such actions as may be necessary to implement these payments and to publish appropriate notice of such payments in the Federal Register.
Sec. 6 . Administrative Law Judges. Pursuant to section 5372 of title 5, United States Code, the rates of basic pay for administrative law judges are set forth on Schedule 10 attached hereto and made a part hereof.
Sec. 7 . Effective Dates. Schedule 8 is effective January 1, 2026. The other schedules contained herein are effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2026. ( printed page 60522)
Sec. 8 . Prior Order Superseded.Executive Order 14132 of December 23, 2024 (Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay), is superseded as of the effective dates specified in section 7 of this order.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 18, 2025.
