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Washington, D.C.—The head of the nation’s largest independent federal union today applauded the effort by Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) to include in H.R. 5856, the Defense Appropriations Act, an amendment to cap federal contractor salaries at the level of pay for the U.S. vice president—$230,700.

While the Tonko effort was blocked on procedural grounds, President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said it reflects the congressman’s “understanding of the need to inject reality into this extravagant aspect of the government contracting process.”

Under current law, contractors can charge taxpayers almost $765,000 for the salaries of some of their employees; that is nearly double what it was in 1998. NTEU strongly supports legislative efforts to lower that amount with a cap that is equal to the salaries of U.S. government officials.

“There is simply no justification, particularly at a time of economic difficulty and with so many Americans continuing to struggle, to use taxpayer money to reimburse the salaries of private contractors at levels that exceed the salary of the President of the United States,” she said.

Rep. Tonko, who has been one of the strongest congressional proponents of capping contractor reimbursements, said: “This is a common-sense amendment. The reality is that the American people cannot afford to pay unlimited salaries to defense contractors, nor should we. At a time when Congress should be reviewing the defense budget for savings with a fine-tooth comb, House Republicans have blocked very significant progress against wasteful spending. I am deeply disappointed that this measure would not even be considered for an up or down vote.”

His legislative language would have applied only to Department of Defense contractors, but, like NTEU, he continues to support taking this action across government.

As the largest independent federal union, NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.