President Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday scrapping a 2.1 percent pay raise for federal workers in 2019.
The salary freeze comes as 800,000 federal employees are either working without pay or on furlough because of a partial government shutdown.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management tweeted a sample letter that government employees, who may have trouble paying their bills, can use to send to landlords, mortgage companies and creditors.
Trump told lawmakers in August he thought the planned pay raise was "inappropriate."
Friday's executive order does not affect the military. Service members will see a 2.6 percent pay increase that was previously signed into a massive defense spending bill.
