Lawmakers Thumb Noses at Gates on Pay

Well, that didn't take long. On Wednesday, House lawmakers gave an indication of just how seriously they will take Robert Gates' plea last Saturday to stop boosting the administration's military pay raise request every year.

CongressDaily reports that the House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee voted for a 1.9 percent military boost next year. That's half a percentage point higher than the Obama administration requested. Gates specifically noted Congress' habit of annually boosting the administration's pay request in his speech, saying it contributed to rises in pay and benefits costs that are "eating the Defense Department alive."

If the concept of pay parity holds, as it does most of the time (except for this year), civilian feds can expect a similar pay boost.