President Obama has announced that he’ll be returning 5 percent of his salary in solidarity with furloughed federal workers.

The gesture is meant to show solidarity with workers forced to sacrifice pay as a result of spending cuts.

Obama continues to put pressure on Congress to reach an agreement that will undo the cuts.

From the Huffington Post:

A 5 percent cut from the president’s salary of $400,000 per year amounts to $20,000.

Obama will return a full $20,000 to the Treasury even though only a few months remain in the fiscal year, which ends in September. He will cut his first check this month, said the White House official, who was not authorized to discuss the decision publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

…

Wednesday’s notice followed a similar move a day earlier by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who committed to taking a salary cut equal to 14 days’ pay – the same level of cut that other Defense Department civilians are being forced to take. As many as 700,000 civilians will have to take one unpaid day off each week for up to 14 weeks in the coming months.

Read more at HuffingtonPost.com

 

Are you heartened by Pres. Obama’s efforts, or is this an empty gesture?

Have you been impacted by the government spending cuts?

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