President Obama announced a plan to cut federal spending in efforts to reduce the deficit and proposed a pay freeze for federal civilian employees.
"The hard truth is that getting this deficit under control is going to require some broad sacrifice, and that sacrifice must be shared by the employees of the federal government. After all, small businesses and families are tightening their belts; Their government should too. And that's why on my first day as president I froze all pay for my senior staff. This year I've proposed extending that freeze for senior political appointees throughout the government and eliminating bonuses for all political appointees," Obama said.
The president proposed a two-year freeze for all civilian federal workers, saying it would save $2 billion over the rest of the fiscal year and $28 billion in cumulative savings over the next five years. He stressed that the freeze does not apply to the men and women of our armed forces.
Local Congressman Mac Thornberry believes the president's announcement is a start.
"House Republicans have been calling for a freeze on federal civilian salaries and for a net freeze on the number of non-security personnel. President Obama's announcement today is at least a start in the right direction."
The pay freeze would not apply to employees of federal contractors such as Bell Helicopter and B&W Pantex. Those companies would still determine the salaries for their employees.
Federal pay is determined by Congress, and lawmakers must approve Obama's call for a freeze.
Congress is not covered by Obama's order, but lawmakers voted last April to freeze their pay, with the House and Senate opting to forgo an automatic $1,600 annual cost-of-living increase. House members and senators now are paid $174,000 a year. Their last pay increase was $4,700 a year at beginning of 2009.
The president's pay of $400,000 a year was fixed by Congress in January 2001. It has not changed since then.
John Gage, president of the 600,000-member American Federation of Government Employees, called the decision "a slap at working people."
"Working people's wages are not the issue with this deficit or what is going on in our country," Gage said. "To symbolically hit at federal employees I think is just wrong."
Gage said the White House was using federal workers as scapegoats for the nation's deficit problems. He said the move would not really save as much as the White House claims because federal employees often get just a fraction of projected raises. Federal workers received a 1.9 percent pay increase this year.
The co-chairmen of Obama's bipartisan deficit commission have proposed a three-year freeze in pay for most federal employees as part of its plan to reduce the nation's growing deficit. The commission's proposal also suggested cuts to Social Security benefits and higher taxes for millions of Americans to stem the flood of red ink that they say threatens the nation's very future. The popular child tax credit and mortgage interest deduction also would be eliminated.
The commission's final report is due to be released later this week.
The Associated Press Contributed to this article
