Although the pay freeze proposed by Obama does not include the military, senior Congressman Democrat Steny Hoyer called for troops to also adopt a pay freeze—with the exception of troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a Nov. 29 statement from Hoyer.
Hoyer said Obama’s proposed pay freeze “would have produced significantly more savings had that sacrifice been shared between federal, civilian and military personnel.”
The pay freeze would apply to civilian federal employees for 2011 and 2012. It is estimated to save $2 billion over two years, and $28 billion over the next five years, according to a White House report.
“The hard truth is that getting this deficit under control is going to require broad sacrifice. And that sacrifice must be shared by the employees of the federal government,” Obama said, according to a Nov. 29 White House transcript.
