Friday, November 12, 2010
The Great Recession did nothing to convince Congress to slow down the soaring increase in highly-paid federal workers. An analysis by USA Today has revealed that the number of U.S. government employees earning $150,000 or more a year jumped tenfold in the past five years. Most of the increase took place during the George W. Bush administration, but the number of high-earners has also doubled since President Barack Obama took office.
In the Department of Defense, the number of civilians making $170,000 or more went from nine in 2005 to 214 by January 2008—and to 994 as of June this year. Doctors on the federal payroll have seen their average annual salary rise from $111,000 in 2005 to $179,500 in 2009.
Defenders of the increase, such as John Berry, the administrator of the Office of Personnel Management, say that most of the high-salary federal employees work in specialized fields, such as counterterrorism and medical care, and that they receive less than their private sector counterparts.
Republicans in the House want to stop a pending 1.4% pay raise for all federal workers, and some, like Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), want to impose a pay freeze and possibly a 10% pay cut. “It’s stunning when you see what’s happened to federal compensation,” Chaffetz told USA Today. “Every metric shows we’re heading in the wrong direction.”
Members of Congress earn $174,000 a year, but their increased pay over the last ten years has been below the rate of inflation.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
More Federal Workers' Pay Tops $150,000 (by Dennis Cauchon, USA Today)
Federal Workers' Pay Soars, Analysis Finds (by Emily Long, Government Executive)
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