Obama "Slaps" Two-Year Pay Freeze on Federal Workers
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President Barack Obama announced Monday a pay freeze for 2 million federal workers, in a move that he said would be the first of many to improve the standing of troubling deficits in the U.S.
"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," Obama said.
The freeze will apply to all civilian federal employees for the next two years, but will not affect military personnel.
If approved by Congress, the freeze is projected tosave more than $5 billion over the next two years, $28 billion over five years and more than $60 billion in the next decade.
The announcement does not impact members of Congress, which voted in April to freeze their pay and forgo an annual cost-of-living pay increase. The president's pay is $400,000 per year, which has remained at this level since 2001.
"This is not just a line item on a federal ledger," he said. "These are people's lives. We're going to have to budge on some deeply held positions, and compromise for the good of the country."
President of the American Federation of Government Employees, John Gage said that this is 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."
"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," Obama said.
The freeze will apply to all civilian federal employees for the next two years, but will not affect military personnel.
If approved by Congress, the freeze is projected tosave more than $5 billion over the next two years, $28 billion over five years and more than $60 billion in the next decade.
The announcement does not impact members of Congress, which voted in April to freeze their pay and forgo an annual cost-of-living pay increase. The president's pay is $400,000 per year, which has remained at this level since 2001.
"This is not just a line item on a federal ledger," he said. "These are people's lives. We're going to have to budge on some deeply held positions, and compromise for the good of the country."
President of the American Federation of Government Employees, John Gage said that this is 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."
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