Federal Eye: GOP control of Hill means rough road for federal workforce

The Republican victory in the Senate changes the political landscape more for the federal workforce than most Americans. The terrain for federal employees could prove rocky, not that it had been so smooth before.

The partys impressive set of victories Tuesday now will give it full control of Capitol Hill. Congress rules over the working and living conditions of Uncle Sams staff to a far deeper degree than any other sector.

A look at what the Republican-dominated House has already approved provides a good indication of what will soon get much greater consideration in a Republican-dominated Senate. For starters, take the budget plan the House approved in April.

It would save Sam $125 billion over 10 years at the expense of his employees.

The GOP has repeatedly given feds good reason to be wary of a Republican-controlled Congress. Last years 16-day partial government shutdown was engineered largely by recalcitrant House Republicans. At the same time, its worth remembering that the three-year freeze on federal pay rates was proposed by President Obama, a Democrat, and approved with a bipartisan congressional majority. Those two things, the pay freeze and the shutdown, angered the workforce and hurt its morale more than any other issues in recent years.

With a GOP-controlled Senate, federal employees should expect a Congress much more willing to pick their pocketbooks by requiring them to contribute more toward their retirement. The House Republican spending plan, authored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), would make workers pay 5.5 percentage points more of their salary toward retirement.

With no increase in benefits, that would amount to a 5.5 percent pay cut.

The House budget advocates a defined-contribution retirement system that centers on increased employee payments instead of the current program that includes the defined benefit that comes with federal pensions. House Republicans also voted to close a student loan reimbursement program for employees and a supplemental retirement benefit for many federal staffers who retire before age 62.

I am concerned about the return of the Ryan budget, which would increase federal retirement contributions and cut the size of the federal workforce at a time when staffing needs are critical, Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said by e-mail on election night. I am also concerned about other efforts to cut federal retirement as evidenced by the recent letter by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Paul Ryan to the Congressional Budget Office [CBO] asking for an examination of the budgetary impact of different options for reforming FERS [Federal Employee Retirement System].

In that letter, Ryan and Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the CBO report should study different options for reforming FERS, based on changes made in recent years to other largepension plans, both public and private. The report should include, but not limit itself to,adjusting the retirement contributions of federal employees, altering the formula for computingpension benefit payments, and expanding the defined contribution component while reducing thedefined benefit component.

Go here to see the original:
Federal Eye: GOP control of Hill means rough road for federal workforce