Politics | federal employees No. of Feds Making Over $150K Soars GOP to attack government pay in lame-duck Congress By Matt Cantor Posted Nov 10, 2010 9:55 AM CST Copied U.S. President Barack Obama delivers the keynote speech at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Barbara Walton, Pool) The number of federal government employees making at least $150,000 a year is 10 times what it was five years ago, and it has doubled since President Obama’s inauguration, says a study by USA Today. House GOP members are hoping to pounce on the issue as the lame-duck Congress begins next week, attempting to bar Obama’s intended 1.4% raise for federal workers. “Every metric shows we’re heading in the wrong direction,” says the Republican who will head a panel on federal pay. But the head of a federal workers’ union calls the raise “modest.” Big beneficiaries of government raises since 2005 include longtime employees, who have seen salaries jump 25%; physicians, who earn some $68,000 more; and the Defense Department, which in June had 994 civilians making $170,000, compared to 9 in 2005. Read These Next The country of Eswatini is about to be on your radar. This is why you don't wear metal in MRI rooms. Two of Iran's enrichment sites reportedly could be back soon. Senate claws back aid to public broadcasting. Report an error