In the News

Ian Smith

Four Congressmen recently sent a letter to House leaders saying they do not want pay cuts for federal employees to be used to fund increased discretionary spending caused by lifting sequestration spending caps.

The letter was sent by Congressmen Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and Elijah Cummings (D-MD), lawmakers who all represent areas with a high percentage of constituents who work for the federal government.

The Congressmen said in their letter that federal employees have already had their pay frozen and endured a partial government shutdown in 2013.

They also expressed their displeasure with the recent tax cut legislation, which is the impetus for the letter. The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 “requires that all new legislation changing taxes, fees, or mandatory expenditures, taken together, must not increase projected deficits,” according to a description of the law. Under the terms of that act, the recent tax cuts must be offset by reductions in government spending, and the Congressmen do not want any reductions in federal workers’ pay or benefits to be the source of any potential spending cuts.

https://www.fedsmith.com/2017/12/26/congressman-want-federal-employee-pay-cuts-taken-off-table/