Senator says Pentagon executive pay decisions erode confidence

A senior Democratic senator sharply criticized Pentagon officials Tuesday for their compensation policies and said that Defense Department civilian employees have little reason to believe that the new National Security Personnel System will be any more even-handed.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., asked Defense officials why they gave 2.5 percent pay raises to political appointees in 2005, but only a 2 percent increase to members of the Senior Executive Service. Levin said the Pentagon action directly conflicts with a congressional mandate to ensure equity for pay adjustments in the political and career employee pools.

"Why does that engender confidence?" Levin asked during a hearing of the Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia. "Why is that legal?"

Charles Abell, principal deputy undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, told the subcommittee that Pentagon lawyers had reviewed the differing pay raises and declared them legal.

"I'm not a lawyer. I don't practice law," Abell said. "I leave that for the general counsel."

But David Walker, comptroller general of the Government Accountability Office, said that meeting "minimum standards" and approving technically legal pay decisions is not the correct approach, especially with a new pay system on the way.

"You don't want to do just what is arguably legal," Walker said. "You want to do what is right."

Pentagon officials have released proposed regulations for NSPS, which would scrap the General Schedule system, implement performance pay, reduce union bargaining powers and streamline the employee appeals process. On Tuesday, several senators said NSPS will fail if Defense employees do not believe that they are being integrated into a fair and transparent system.

"You are proposing a system that is based on an important premise," Levin said. "You are not following that premise right now."