Just when the walloping of federal workers seemed to have reached a peak — BAM! — here comes an unexpected blow from the left.
At almost the same time, the workers were the target of additional, albeit not surprising, hits from the right.
A temporary funding measure, released by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, includes an extension of the basic federal pay -rate freeze to three years, something federal employee organizations and their Democratic allies in Congress have vigorously fought.
Just last week, Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat with a strong history of supporting the federal workforce, told the Federal Diary, "I'll be working my earrings off to fight the extension of the federal pay freeze included in the House-passed continuing resolution."
Precisely because it is in the bill passed largely by House Republicans, federal employees see no reason for the extension to be in a bill promoted by Senate Democrats, although the Senate measure is bipartisan.
"This is not a happy day for me, and it is not a happy day for the millions of people who work diligently for the federal government," Mikulski told the Senate on Tuesday, her tone subdued.
"I think this is a terrible mistake," she added. She believed she had no choice but to make a deal with the Republicans.
"Reluctantly," she said to the workforce, "the way I serve you is to make sure there is no government shutdown."
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