Federal Pension Hike Advances as Part of House Alternative to Atomatic Cuts

A plan to avoid automatic cuts to discretionary federal agency spending, including to the Defense Department, advanced in the House, passing the budget committee and heading to the House floor for a vote later this week.

Among the $300 billion in alternative cuts approved by the committee, in a 21-9 party-line vote, is a provision requiring federal employees to pay more for their retirement benefits.

Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, introduced the Sequester Replacement At of 2012 last week. It nullifies the across-the-board cuts, known as sequestration, that were set in motion by last summer's Budget Control Act and the subsequent failure of the "supercommittee" to come up with an alternative deficit-reduction plan.

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