Tag: Obama

President Obama Signs Budget, Defense Bills

by Scott Neuman

December 26, 2013 4:50 PM

President Obama speaks to current and retired members of the U.S. military and their families as they eat a Christmas Day meal in the Anderson Hall mess hall at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Wednesday.President Obama speaks to current and retired members of the U.S. military and their families as they eat a Christmas Day meal in the Anderson Hall mess hall at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Wednesday.

Getty Images

President Obama on Thursday signed the bipartisan budget bill agreed upon earlier this month, setting the stage for an easing of mandatory spending cuts over the next two years.

The , following its passage in the Republican-dominated House.

The president also signed the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2014.

As The Associated Press reports:

“Obama signed the bill Thursday while vacationing in Hawaii. The deal reduces across-the-board cuts already scheduled to take effect, restoring about $63 billion over two years. It includes a projected $85 billion in other savings. Continue reading “President Obama Signs Budget, Defense Bills”

Obama Issues Order Implementing 1 Percent Pay Raise

Obama Issues Order Implementing 1 Percent Pay Raise

  • December 23, 2013
Svetlana Lugovskaya/Shutterstock.com

As expected, President Obama issued an executive order Monday implementing a 1 percent across the board pay increase for federal employees under the General Schedule in 2014.

The salary boost is the first for the entire white-collar federal workforce since 2010. The order also implements a 1 percent pay raise for uniformed military service members.

In August, President Obama affirmed his intention to grant the 1 percent increase. But that didn’t mean it was a done deal. In 2012, Obama recommended a 0.5 percent pay raise for 2013, only to have it struck down by Congress. Continue reading “Obama Issues Order Implementing 1 Percent Pay Raise”

Feds Sail Smoothly Toward a 2014 Pay Raise

Feds Sail Smoothly Toward a 2014 Pay Raise

OlgaLis/Shutterstock.com

For months, federal employees have quietly waited to learn the fate of their long-awaited pay raise.

In August, President Obama affirmed his intention to grant an across-the-board, 1 percent increase. The first raise since 2010 was far from out of the woods, however. In 2012, Obama recommended a 0.5 percent pay raise for 2013, only to have it struck down by Congress.

Congress had the chance to do the same when it ended the government shutdown in October, but declined to do so. It once again could have struck down the raise in the latest budget agreement, but once again let the raise remain. Continue reading “Feds Sail Smoothly Toward a 2014 Pay Raise”

GOP bill would reduce federal retiree benefits to offset defense cuts

GOP bill would reduce federal retiree benefits to offset defense cuts

Published December 05, 2013

FoxNews.com

RTREIRE.jpgAn aerial view of the Pentagon building in Washington.Reuters

Two Republican lawmakers have introduced a proposal that would require federal employees to contribute more of their salary toward retiree benefits in order to offset deep cuts to the Defense Department.

The “Provide for the Common Defense Act,” introduced by Reps. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., and Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., would eliminate sequester-related budget cuts for the Pentagon over the next two years, the lawmakers said in a statement.

The legislation increases federal employee’s contributions toward their retirement costs, from 0.8 percent to 2.0 percent of pay, over a three-year period. The bill would also eliminate the Federal Employee Retirement System Annuity Supplement for new employees.   Continue reading “GOP bill would reduce federal retiree benefits to offset defense cuts”

Republican Senators Propose Eliminating New Feds’ Pensions

Republican Senators Propose Eliminating New Feds’ Pensions

The Public-Private Employees Retirement Parity Act was introduced by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. (left); Richard Burr, R-N.C.; and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga. (not pictured)
The Public-Private Employees Retirement Parity Act was introduced by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. (left); Richard Burr, R-N.C.; and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga. (not pictured) J. Scott Applewhite/AP

A group of Republican senators has introduced a bill to slash retirement pensions for new federal employees, saying the current system unfairly compensates public-sector workers as compared to their private-sector counterparts.

The Public-Private Employees Retirement Parity Act, introduced by Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C.; Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., would eliminate the defined benefit portion of the Federal Employees Retirement System for all new government workers hired six months after its enactment. New employees would still receive matching agency contributions into their Thrift Savings Plan of up to 5 percent.

“Right now, federal government workers receive far more generous retirement benefits than private-sector employees,” said Burr, who sponsored a similar bill in 2011 that never made it out of committee. “The cost to taxpayers of these benefits is unsustainable and we simply cannot afford it. We cannot ask taxpayers to continue to foot the bill for public employee benefits that are far more generous than their own.”

Continue reading “Republican Senators Propose Eliminating New Feds’ Pensions”

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