I've been recommended for a promotion (to the job whose tasks I've been doing almost from the beginning). I'm not sure whether that job (under the lower pay scale we got in 2012-2013) comes with a pay cut. Wonder why $EMPLOYER is so messed up? Know-nothing, do-nothing folks in HQ → high pay; know-little, do-little, break-things contractors in HQ → even higher pay; field staff who do the actual work of the agency and fix what HQ folks break → nickel-and-dime on pay and expenses. #Your_tax_dollars_at_work