# What the Federal Employee Performance and Accountability Act of 2025 Actually Does

This bill creates a five-year test program that ties federal employee pay directly to job performance. Instead of the current system where federal workers get automatic raises based on years of service, this pilot program would let agencies reward high performers with raises up to 10 percent, freeze pay for average performers, and cut pay by 10 percent for those who fall short of goals. The program would apply to roughly 1 to 10 percent of mid-to-senior level federal employees in participating agencies—think project managers, IT specialists, policy analysts, supervisors, and customer service representatives—basically jobs where performance can be measured with concrete numbers like cases completed or projects finished.

Here's how it would work in practice: If you're a federal employee in one of these positions at a participating agency, your boss would set specific performance targets for you each year based on things like productivity (how many cases you process), quality (accuracy and customer satisfaction), and timeliness (meeting deadlines). At the end of the year, you'd get evaluated against these metrics. If you significantly exceed expectations, you could get a raise. If you meet expectations, your pay stays the same. If you fall short, your pay gets cut by 10 percent, though the agency would have to offer you training to help improve. The bill also lets agencies offer perks like flexible schedules, telework, or better parking to top performers.

The catch is that while participating in this program, you wouldn't get the regular automatic raises that federal employees normally receive under current law. The bill requires agencies to report annually on whether this approach actually improves productivity and saves money, and Congress will get a final report after the five-year pilot ends. No new money is being spent on this—agencies have to fund it from their existing budgets. Some agencies can opt out if they think the program would create national security or public safety risks, but they'd have to explain why in writing.

Federal Employee Performance and Accountability Act of 2025

Tenney, Claudia

Federal Employee Performance and Accountability Act of 2025This bill establishes a pilot program making pay increases for certain federal employees contingent on job performance.Under the bill, each executive agency must identify&nbsp;employees to participate in the five-year pilot program from among employees classified at or above the GS-11 level and holding positions with clearly measurable performance criteria. Each agency must select 1%-10% of these&nbsp;employees to participate in the program. An agency may opt out if participation potentially risks national security or public safety.The bill provides that a participating agency<ul><li>must&nbsp;increase an employee's pay by up to 10%&nbsp;if the&nbsp;employee significantly exceeded established performance metrics during the preceding year,&nbsp;</li><li> may not increase the pay of an employee who met established performance metrics during the preceding year, and&nbsp;</li><li>must reduce by 10%&nbsp;the pay of an employee who rates below expectations for the preceding year.</li></ul>Participating employees are ineligible for annual or locality-based pay increases authorized under current law during the pilot. The&nbsp;bill also requires&nbsp;agencies to establish performance plans and evaluation systems for participating employees. Agencies must also provide training and resources to help participating&nbsp;employees understand and meet&nbsp;performance requirements.Participating agencies must report cost savings, productivity metrics, and other information to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) every year. OMB and the Government Accountability Office must jointly report on the final outcome of the program.&nbsp;