That’s apparently what President Bush thinks, judging from the budget he submitted to Congress. The budget calls for a 3.4 percent increase for members of the military—and a 2.9 percent increase for other federal employees. The Washington Post’s Stephen Barr chronicles Congress’s reaction. Democrats and Republicans are ...

Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post reports on a new survey of foreign service officers, 44% of whom gave Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a "poor" or "very poor" overall job rating.  Many FSOs say they might leave the service for other employment rather than working through to retirement.  Some ...

Last year, the Department of Homeland Security created a second deputy secretary for management position.  Apparently, the workload was too great, which is possible considering that DHS has been hemorrhaging top staff since it was created.  Even after the work was split between two positions, it wasn't enough to keep ...

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) will look into bonuses and pay raises granted to members of the Senior Executive Service – top executives who run major government operations and facilities.  See Stephen Barr’s Washington Post article here.

So much for pay comparability.  Federal workers are on top of the heap, compensated twice as much as their private sector colleagues. 

That’s what Karen Rutzick’s article on GovExec.com claims.  Chris Edwards’ report repeats the theme. 

Per the U.S. Commerce Department, the average fed’s overall compensation ...

Old-timers, such as myself, recall federal government pay (along with states and localities) based on pre-defined levels. The feds had the well-known GS system of 15 pay grades and 10 "longevity" steps within each grade.

At the federal level, this system still exists for the majority of employees, but a move has been afoot for years, ...