Federal Employee Performance and Accountability Act of 2025

Federal Employee Performance and Accountability Act of 2025

This bill establishes a pilot program making pay increases for certain federal employees contingent on job performance.

Under the bill, each executive agency must identify 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 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

• must increase an employee's pay by up to 10% if the employee significantly exceeded established performance metrics during the preceding year,
• may not increase the pay of an employee who met established performance metrics during the preceding year, and
• must reduce by 10% the pay of an employee who rates below expectations for the preceding year.

Participating employees are ineligible for annual or locality-based pay increases authorized under current law during the pilot.

The bill also requires agencies to establish performance plans and evaluation systems for participating employees. Agencies must also provide training and resources to help participating employees understand and meet 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.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov