Federal pension contributions would increase and agency workforces would be cut dramatically under a budget passed by the House March 25.
The Republican budget - passed on a 228 to 199 party-line vote - would increase retirement contributions for all current federal employees, reduce the federal workforce by 10 percent through attrition and increase the Postal Service employee contributions to their health insurance premiums.
The legislation also decreases the rate of return on the Thrift Savings Plan's government securities fund (G Fund) and encourages the elimination of the Federal Employee Retirement System annuity supplement.
Richard Thissen, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association called the budget "a direct attack on effective government" that hits federal employees hard and threatens the retirement security of every federal employee.
"I have to ask: When are members of Congress going to do the hard work and have an honest conversation about what they want from our federal government and fund it appropriately?" Thissen said. "Instead, they continue to penalize the very employees whose job it is to carry out the laws they pass."
He said the budget sends a powerful message to federal employees and to taxpayers that government workers do not matter, and that the federal government is an employer of last resort.
"Are these the messages we want to send to those who take criminals off our streets and keep them behind bars, assist our military at home and abroad, care for veterans, and help us prepare for and recover from severe weather? This is a direct hit to effective government," Thissen said.
The Defense Department saw its budget boosted by more than $20 billion in fiscal 2016 – placed into an account not subject to the budget caps imposed by sequestration.
President Obama has said he would veto any legislation that leaves sequestration intact.
Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, said the budget proposal is balanced and eliminates the deficit while strengthening and restructuring Medicare and Social Security. She said the budget cuts waste and promotes a fairer, simpler tax code while ensuring a strong Defense Department.
"This budget reflects my commitment to rein in Federal spending, slow out-of-control growth in entitlement spending, lower budget deficits, slow federal growth, and enact tax reform," Love said.
J. David Cox, President of the American Federation of Government employees, said the fiscal 2016 budget is a "declaration of war" against federal employees.
He said the budget would cut pay for federal employees, force insurance costs to spiral out of control and hurt federal employees as they retire.
"The House budget plan, if enacted, would slash the pay, benefits and jobs of federal employees at an unprecedented scale," Cox said. "To make matters worse, the budget continues the draconian across-the-board spending cuts at non-Defense agencies known as sequestration, which will erode vital services that benefit Americans on a daily basis."
