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In a memo quietly published in Wednesday’s Federal Register, the White House procurement chief instructed defense and civilian agency heads to raise the cap on taxpayer funds that can be used to reimburse contracting companies for the pay packages of top executives.

Beginning with contracts let in fiscal 2012, the maximum reimbursement level is $905,308, an increase of $190,000. The cap is based on a formula mandated by law, according to the memo from Joe Jordan, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.

“Under current law, the administration has no flexibility to depart from the statutory requirement that the cap be adjusted annually based on the application of the statutorily-mandated formula,” Jordan’s memo said. “The administration has strongly reiterated the need for reforms to the current statutory framework and Congress has considered several proposals to reform the compensation cap. To date, however, Congress has not revised the cap amount or the formula for adjusting the cap,” other than enacting a small change in 2011 expanding the cap on pay on defense contracts to cover all employees, rather than the five highest-paid. Continue reading “White House Makes Few Friends in Raising Contractor Pay Cap”