GOP Pay Freeze Reax

Sen. Scott Brown: "I applaud President Obama for taking action to rein in government spending by temporarily freezing federal employee wages."

Rep. Cantor: "We are pleased that President Obama appears ready to join our efforts. As the recent election made clear, Americans are fed up with a government that spends too much."

Rep. Issa: "It is both necessary and quite frankly, long over-due."

Sen. Scott Brown Applauds White House Proposal To Freeze Federal Pay Raises:

“I applaud President Obama for taking action to rein in government spending by temporarily freezing federal employee wages. There is still more work to be done and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to control spending and reduce our national debt."

Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform:

“At a time when our nation’s seniors have been denied a cost-of-living-increase and private sector hiring is stagnant, it is both necessary and quite frankly, long over-due to institute a pay-freeze for the federal workforce. As Republicans outlined in our Pledge to America there are a number of actions the President and Congress should immediately act on to demonstrate a real commitment to reigning in the excessive growth and spending of the federal government.

“To put this in perspective, the Obama Administration says this two-year pay freeze will save $2 billion, however, just last week, OMB released a report revealing that the federal government’s improper payments for FY-2010 totaled $125 billion, $15 billion higher than the previous year. It is unthinkable that we have come to accept having a bureaucracy that has institutionalized waste, fraud and abuse to the point where $125 billion in improper payments were made last year. The first place we should look to make progress on higher costs, increased debt and a stagnant economy is look inward at how taxpayer dollars are being spent and doing more to ensure that tens of billions of dollars are no longer erroneously paid out.”

Eric Cantor on President Obama's Federal Pay Freeze Announcement:

“I am encouraged by President Obama’s proposal to freeze non-military federal pay for the next two years. This past May, House Republicans—prompted by YouCut voters—offered the very same spending-cut proposal on the floor of the House. The YouCut proposal was one of many specific spending reductions offered by House Republicans over the past two years, and we are pleased that President Obama appears ready to join our efforts. As the recent election made clear, Americans are fed up with a government that spends too much, borrows too much and grows too much.

"Many federal employees do important work, but this is exactly the kind of savings measure we have to make in order to begin to restore some fiscal sanity in America, especially considering recent reports of federal salaries significantly outpacing private-sector salaries. With so many Americans tightening their belts, Washington must do the same.

"I hope that Democrats who are concerned about the debt and America’s dire long-term financial health will join House Republicans in embracing President Obama’s proposal and other YouCuts going forward. We have to work together if we want to transform the culture of spending in Washington into one of savings."

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