A group of nine Republicans in the House of Representatives recently sent a letter to House leadership to express their concerns about proposed cuts to federal employees’ pay and benefits.
The letter was sent to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
The cuts were outlined in the White House’s 2018 budget proposal and include proposals such as eliminating COLAs for employees under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), increasing the amount FERS employees contribute to their annuities, and moving to a high-5 system for computing retirement benefits.
The Republicans who sent the letter represent districts with significant numbers of current and former federal employees. They called the proposal to increase annuity contributions “an immediate and permanent 6% pay cut” and also said they felt that federal employees had already experienced too many cuts to their benefits in the name of deficit reduction.
A copy of the letter is included below.
