Lawmakers Express Concerns Over Proposals to Cut Federal Employees’ Benefits

Lawmakers in both the House and Senate recently sent letters expressing their concerns to proposals to cut federal employees’ benefits.

Lawmakers sent letters last week to leaders in both the House and Senate expressing their concerns about proposed cuts to federal employees’ pay and benefits.

Senate Letter

A group of Senators said in a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that the suggested cuts from the White House’s 2018 budget proposal would harm federal employees’ retirement plans and hinder the government’s ability to hire and recruit new employees.

The letter specifically mentioned proposed increases to federal workers’ portions of their FERS pensions, eliminating the FERS supplement, and elimination of COLAs for federal retirees.

A copy of the Senate letter is included below.

2017-07-26 Letter Re: Benefits Cuts

House Letter

Separately, a group of Congressmen in the House sent a letter to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) expressing the same concerns.

The letter said that many of the proposed cuts have been considered and rejected in the past, so putting them on the table again amounted to a futile effort that demoralized federal employees.

The letter mentioned some of the same cuts, namely the proposals to increase the contributions federal employees make to their pensions, elimination of COLAs for current and future federal retirees, and a move to a high-5 from a high-3 for pension calculations.

A copy of the House letter is included below.

2017-07-26 Letter to Gowdy Re: Benefits Cuts

About the Author

Ian Smith is one of the co-founders of FedSmith.com. He has over 20 years of combined experience in media and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith.