Obama extends two-year federal pay freeze

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/president-extends-federal-pay-freeze/2012/08/21/d8087966-ebf2-11e1-9ddc-340d5efb1e9c_story.html

President Obama told congressional leaders Tuesday that he is extending a two-year pay freeze for federal employees until at least next spring because Congress has not agreed on a budget for the next fiscal year.

The freeze will stay in effect until a spending plan is passed, but the presidential election makes it unlikely that will happen before the start of fiscal 2013 on Oct. 1. As a result, the president is required by the end of August to come up with an “alternative pay plan” to avoid a legal trigger that would automatically raise federal pay in line with private-sector salaries. The alternative pay plan is usually a routine event signaling that Congress and the White House have agreed on a salary increase for federal workers.