Senate rejects bill with pay freeze extension

The Senate on Thursday rejected a bill that would have extended the pay freeze for federal employees and downsized the government workforce.

The measure, which would have extended the payroll tax cut in part by prolonging the federal pay freeze for civilian workers, was defeated in a 20 to 78 vote. The legislation (S. 1931) would have instituted a five-year pay freeze on feds and replaced every three workers who leave government service with one employee.

Over the past two days, federal employee unions fired off letters to lawmakers and urged members to call senators and oppose the legislation. "Federal employees should not have to play a disproportionate role in deficit reduction simply because Congress has failed to rein in spending over the last decade," said a letter from the Government Managers Coalition, which includes the Senior Executives Association and the Federal Managers Association.

The Obama administration released a statement Thursday before the vote opposing S. 1931 partly because it is "paid for by unbalanced cuts that would break a bipartisan deal achieved in August and would undermine the nation's ability to invest in areas that are key to America's future, to maintain core government functions and to defend the United States." The statement, however, did not specifically mention the proposed pay freeze or workforce downsizing recommendations.

The Senate also voted down a bill (S. 1917) sponsored by Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., that would have paid for the tax cut extension by levying a tax on individuals with incomes exceeding $1 million.