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Washington, D.C.—The leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees today sought Senate support for an amendment that would cap at $230,700 the salaries that contractors for the Department of Defense (DoD) could be paid from taxpayer funds. Currently, the cap is nearly $765,000.

In a letter to senators, President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said there is no valid reason for such outrageous pay. “Particularly,” she added separately, “with sequestration resulting in furloughs of federal employees and cuts to vital government services.”

“NTEU believes that while millions of Americans continue to struggle to make ends meet and are seeing little or no increase in their take-home pay, taxpayers should not be required to foot the bill for the exorbitant salaries of private contractors that exceed the salary of the Vice President of the United States,” she wrote.

At more than $760,000, the salary cap is more than double what it was in 1998.

The proposed salary cap amendment to H.R. 933, the fiscal 2013 continuing appropriations bill, was introduced by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). It would apply only to DoD contractors and mirrors language included in S. 3254, the Senate DoD Authorization Act for fiscal 2013.

We believe, President Kelley said, that savings could reach nearly $50 billion over 10 years by lowering the cap for all contractors to $230,700, providing critical savings for the federal government.

Kelley has been the leader in calling for continued reform of federal contracting practices, including modifying the law that provides such high salary reimbursements. The reimbursement cap rises according to a pre-set formula; for 2011 alone, it increased by nearly $70,000.

“We strongly support the Manchin-Boxer bill, which will ensure American taxpayers are not on the hook for excessive contractor salaries,” she told senators.

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