Obama seeks to freeze federal pay

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Monday called for freezing the pay of 2 million federal employees, saying the move is the first of many difficult decisions that must be made to slash the nation's mounting deficits.

"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 two-year freeze would apply to all civilian federal employees, including those at the Defense Department, but would not affect military personnel. The freeze is expected to save more than $5 billion over two years, $28 billion over five years and more than $60 billion over 10 years, White House officials said.

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 in April to freeze their pay. House members and senators now are paid $174,000 a year. Their last pay increase was $4,700 a year at the 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.

While Obama said the federal employee salary freeze was necessary to put the nation on sound fiscal footing, he said he didn't reach the decision lightly.

"This is not just a line item on a federal ledger," he said. "These are people's lives."

The savings from the pay freeze make only a small dent in the nation's $1 trillion-plus budget deficit. But with voters voicing their anger over Washington's spending during the midterm elections, even a symbolic gesture would show the White House got the message.

Obama and bipartisan congressional leaders will meet at the White House Tuesday for the first time since Republicans gained control of the House and increased their strength in the Senate during the midterm elections. Obama said he hopes the move to freeze federal pay sets a serious tone for the meetings.

"We're going to have to budge on some deeply held positions and compromise for the good of the country," Obama said.

California Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, said that although the pay freeze was "long overdue," the president and congressional leaders should take additional steps to reduce spending, including imposing a federal hiring freeze of nonsecurity employees.