Pay Freeze at Top Levels Possible

House leaders have said they will support a pay freeze for members of Congress in 2010, a type of action that in the past often has translated into freezes for career federal employees in upper-level pay systems such as the SES. Pay in those systems is capped at rates for political appointees in the executive schedule, which in turn are linked to rates of pay for Congress; in addition, employees at the top reaches of the GS pay system in half of the localities are now up against pay caps linked to the executive schedule. In most past years when Congress has declined a raise, executive schedule rates were frozen too, and thus federal employees who were up against pay caps did not get raises. There have been years, however, in which Congress has declined a raise but allowed one for executive schedule appointees. The Senate typically consents when the House initiates a pay freeze, which commonly comes in the form of language added to an appropriations bill. Another factor possibly coming into play for 2010 is President Obama’s order freezing pay of White House staffers making more than $100,000, a move seen as precedent for deliberations over pay for the executive schedule.