President Obama will freeze the salaries of senior White House officials and other top political appointees and eliminate bonuses for all political appointees, the White House said Tuesday. The payroll decision will likely get a mention in Wednesday’s State of the Union address, officials said.
Obama last year froze the salaries of top White House officials earning more than $100,000, and this year’s freeze will once again impact them and other top Executive Branch appointees, politically appointed ambassadors and political appointees serving in the Senior Executive Service — roughly 1,200 people.
This is also the second year that Obama has declined to pay bonuses. It’s unclear how much a government official would earn from a bonus or who would earn one, but the decision theoretically would affect more than 3,000 officials across the government.
Ed, with CNN combing through volumes and volumes of contracts spent under Stimulus, this is a very sensitive time within government. I can only imagine that all employees of the government feel slightly more pressured to perform, produce and help create jobs. Pay freezes for politicos does not surprise me. Can someone tell me if Open Government can create jobs in the private sector?