Pat Dollard

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CQ Politics:

Citing the current economic recession — and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks eight years ago — President Obama says he will use emergency powers to cut the programmed across-the-board January increase in federal employees’ pay from 2.4 percent to 2.0 percent, according to a letter he sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Monday.

The move was not a surprise, as Obama telegraphed a 2 percent increase in the budget he proposed earlier this year. But it’s certainly not welcome news for federal employees, whose unions protested when Obama’s budget was released.

“Title 5, United States Code, authorizes me to implement an alternative pay plan if I view the adjustments that would otherwise take effect as inappropriate due to ‘national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare,’ Obama wrote in Monday’s letter. ‘A national emergency, within the meaning of chapter 53 of title 5, has existed since September 11, 2001. Likewise, with unemployment at 9.5 percent in June to cite just one economic indicator, few would disagree that our country is facing serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare.”

Sept. 11? President Bush also cited the terrorist attack on the U.S. as the type of emergency that should affect federal workers’ pay in similar letters to Congress.

The president’s announcement drew a rebuke from House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the highest-ranking lawmaker from the Washington, D.C., area and representative of a district that is home to many federal workers.

“Congressman Hoyer is a strong supporter of our federal workforce as well as the principle of pay parity, which ensures equal annual compensation adjustments for both civilian federal workers and members of the military. Though he believes it is reasonable to have a smaller adjustment this year during a time of national economic hardship, he was extremely disappointed the administration did not follow pay parity,” Hoyer spokeswoman Stephanie Lundberg said.

White House budget director Peter Orszag wrote to Hoyer earlier this year assuring him that future Obama budgets would reflect parity between military and civilian workers.

Military employees are in line for a 3.4 percent boost as both chambers have included that figure — five-tenths of a percentage point above Obama’s budget — in their annual defense authorization bills.

Obama’s initiative also drew a quick and unhappy response from Virginia Democrat Gerald E. Connolly, who also represents many federal workers who live in his 11th District in suburban Washington, D.C..

“Recruitment and retention of a quality federal workforce is critical to our national interest. Forty-seven percent of federal employees will be eligible for retirement over the next decade and the federal government will need to hire 600,000 new workers in just the next 3-4 years,” Connolly said in a statement.

He continued, “To recruit and retain a quality federal workforce, this Congress and the administration must show a commitment to quality pay and benefits. When Congress returns from recess, I hope we will continue to look at federal pay in the context of the appropriations process and work to secure an increase higher than 2 percent. The federal employees in my congressional district and the millions across the country deserve appropriate recognition for the vital work they perform — and that includes a decent pay raise.”

I have contacted the American Federation of Government Employees and other Washington-area lawmakers for comment on the Obama plan.