Just days after receiving 12 stitches in his bottom lip during a pick-up basketball game, President Barack Obama has announced plans to freeze in pay for federal employees for the next two years.
Some political pundits believe that this announcement is a pre-emptive strike against Republicans who have suggested that they want to cut federal pay and the size of the government workforce next year. The two-year pay freeze for civilian federal employees will save $2 billion during the rest of the current fiscal year and almost $30 billion over the next five years according to the White House. In all, it is expected to save more than $5 billion between now and 2012.
There are about 2.65 million civilian employees of the executive branch. This is equal to approximately 8.4 federal workers per 1,000 Americans. The freeze would not apply to military personnel.
Congress would have to approve the proposal in order for it to take effect. When Obama took office in 2008, he froze salaries for senior White House officials and proposed doing the same for all political appointees. All of this is part of President Obama’s effort to contain the $1.3-trillion federal deficit.
–torrance stephens, ph.d.
