President Biden recently signed the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for 2023, a whopping $1.7 trillion. These appropriations authorize the hiring of an additional 50,000 federal employees. Almost every day we hear of corporate cutbacks or lay-offs in the private sector including CNN, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and The Walt Disney Company to name a few. Bank of America is looking at a hiring freeze and allowing for attrition to shrink its payroll. Many other companies are continually looking at ways to save money and perform efficiently. Maybe the federal government should follow suit.
Republican Representatives have expressed concern about a very large hiring effort by the IRS but very little is said about the rest of the expansive federal civilian workforce. Recent spending packages from the American Rescue Plan, the infrastructure spending bill, and the so-called, Inflation Reduction Act all can add headcount.
We have a new Congress with the House majority going to the Republicans and potential Speaker, Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy has vowed to make spending accountability a priority. He specifically mentions the new appropriations and hiring authority for the IRS. Notwithstanding, why not review other federal agencies?
The Congressional Research Service tries hard to get an accurate count on employees and sets the numbers at 2.6 million civilian employees, plus another 60,000 in the legislative and judicial branches. This does not include the 600,000 postal employees because they are set up to self-finance. Keep in mind that there are hundreds of thousands of contractors working for federal agencies. Many of these are full time employees very similar in tenure and time of employment as federal employees.
According to the most recent data from the US Office of Personnel Management, the average federal employee salary is $110,000 annually. Benefits such as health insurance, retirement annuity and a thrift savings plan, which is equivalent to a 401(k) are standard. A relatively generous annual and sick leave package are also included.
Just like the private sector, much can be done with advancement in technology to hold down costs and indeed, many agencies are incorporating that technology to streamline mundane tasks. Representative McCarthy, should he become Speaker, must expand his review of not only the IRS but to all federal agencies. Not unlike the private sector, the result could be a more efficient and resilient federal workforce.
Steven W. Anderson is retired from the U.S. Department the Interior and is an AMAC Action Delegate in California’s 1st Congressional District.
Just adding to the democratic/communist party!!! Sit around and do nothing and get paid for it!!!
And the rank and file law enforcement and educators that do matter are just getting the shaft while the do-nothing “administrations” grow. Good Americans are leaving these jobs. Gee Whiz, Joe is going to visit the border today. Wonder what happened to Kamala. They are all just too busy acting busy.
Joe Biden. President? Who knew “A Place for Mom” had the White House listed as an upscale care facilty for dementia patients?
Biggest problem,, Government Hired Employees push Union’s and Vote Democrat
These elite socialist criminal marxists hate the private sector but love the Government. The power of the Government is their GOD! So, they will burden us taxpayers to pay for a way too big corrupt government, that’s more and more weaponized against us. Once all these federal workers are hired and unionized, it will be nearly impossible to fire them!
First off someone needs to put a stop to Brandon before he lives another day. Second, anyone in congress who voted for this should be put in trees as a warning to those who do not believe that this is a revolution. Third, why would someone who can’t even keep his own people in line be made speaker. This is war against the Satanist left. You don’t go to war without your weapon.
The biggest problem is they continue to add government agencies to run government in the background then they sit do nothing and get paid we now have over 400 government agencies this means unelected burocrats run the government not elected representatives this must stop
And many of those agencies do duplicate work
Hope he’s selected for this position!
Used to be that a government job was the least desirable job (50′ & 60’s). You know back when we didn’t lean so heavily Socialist. Now we are becoming Socialist by virtue of employment. The largest employer in the states is the government at 1,869,986 employees (and that’s just the Feds). I’m sure that they wouldn’t vote in favor of their own since sinecure, surely they wouldn’t. Government is a blight on our existence and as we pile jobs upon jobs into the government we will approach “Idiocracy”. Being stupid will become a desired even exalted trait.
And every job will be a government job.
Absolutely criminal Banana Republic in DC. Way past time to rid these illegitimate, fraudulently elected individuals from our government. Starting from the top down!
can’t people see this is vote gathering for the Democrat party…What is our congressmen doing to STOP the madness? Call your rep and ask im/her…
When AOC was asked how will you pay for all this? her response we just print more money, leaving out this causes inflation, which in trurn will destroy our country, but then shes not the brighes but a perfect swamp member.
More FED employees ensures more LEFT votes.
That’s for sure ! Between this and open borders, they’re ensuring a leftist monopoly ????
More like a Democratic Dictatorship!!!!
A free enterprise nation cannot be sustained when government employs an overabundance of citizens. We need citizens employed in the private sector where they only contribute to taxes rather than being a burden on tax dollars.
Soon, we will all work for the fed. Do we really need a private sector ?
Some one told me that the fed operates by receiving tax payments from private
sector employees but I guess that’s not correct. Don’t know how I had that mixed up.
As our government gets bigger, our taxpayers become more poor. They have great benefits, too.
Great pensions. Why don’t they have 401K plans like us?
Most federal employees currently retiring are under the FERS system. (small pension, social security and 401K plan) Most federal employees from the old civil service retirement system are in retirement.(great pension)
Thanks, interesting. How did Fauci end up with $365,000 pension when he retires?
She was giving information regarding IRS employees. Fauci didn’t work for the IRS. I worked for the IRS for 14 1/2 years and I was very disappointed in my pension. Before they changed their retirement plan from Civil Service to the FERS Plan, the retirement money was fantastic, but under FERS it’s not so great. Even when the employee contributes to their retirement plan, if they keep their health insurance, they pay the same amount as when they were working, which the premium is very high compared to most big companies. (The Post Office has the same choices as the IRS does, but their premiums for the same health insurance is considerably less.) l Also, I don’t know how they decided that the average pay was $110,000. They must have just figured the salaries of the higher ups. I was a grade 8 and I didn’t even make half of that.
When Biden and the others in Washington have unlimited money this is what the do spend spend and more spending because it is not there money they are spending the could care less for the American people just putting us in more debt what a government we have.
Yes, they are a total joke! It’s time to have Term Limits. Reduce their benefits put them on Medicare and watch how fast they would fix it.
As said before, if the federal government had to live on a budget like regular hard working Americans then they would have to make common sense decisions on spending. But they don’t and its just more and more unecessary spending of Billions of taxpayer dollars, a lot of which is money down the drain.
Yes, they have a money tree and it’s us.
Theres a simple reason the demon party constantly expands the number of federal employees- the latter quickly succumb to left wing conditioning and become dem robots ravenously devouring the substance of this country and providing very little in return. ‘Work’ to govt employees can be figured thusly- roughly two hours per shift compared to the ever shrinking private sector. Then there’re the obscene pensions. Its a grift of titanic proportions.
Not all become guppies. I’m very critical of the Government
True. They didn’t change me. I was a Republican when I got there and a Republican when I left.
The federal and local governments will consume us if left unabated to spread like an infestation.
Yes, they are an infestation. Nice way to put it and true. lol !!!