Coffman: Furlough federal staff, cut Congress’ pay

By The AP
Thursday, January 13, 2011

DENVER — Colorado congressman Mike Coffman wants to furlough federal employees for two weeks and cut senators’ and U.S. representatives’ pay by 10 percent.

Coffman, a Republican, said today his proposal would save about $5.5 billion.

He has introduced a bill calling for the cuts. It would require civilian federal employees to take two non-consecutive weeks off without pay in 2012.

Coffman says furloughs have become commonplace in state governments and that federal government should follow suit.

His bill would also reduce the budgets for congressional offices, but he didn’t say how much.