Obama 5% of salary due to sequester
| President Barack Obama during the fiscal cliff negotiations in the briefing room of the White House on Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, in Washington. |
Under Article II, Section I of the United States Constitution, no sitting president’s salary may be altered while he or she is in office. Obama’s decision will be retroactive to the start of sequestration on March 1, when lawmakers failed to reach an agreement to keep the mandatory spending cuts from kicking in.
“The salary for the President, as with Members of Congress, is set by law and cannot be changed,” a White House official said in a statement. “However, the President has decided that to share in the sacrifice being made by public servants across the federal government that are affected by the sequester, he will contribute a portion of his salary back to the Treasury.”
Like many of his civilian colleagues at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is taking a pay cut equal to 14 furlough days. Obama’s refund to the Treasury will amount to $16,666.67 over the rest of the year.