DelBene to return part of salary as federal cuts take hold

Freshman Congresswoman Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., announced today she’s going to return a portion of her monthly paycheck as across-the-board cuts take effect in federal agencies.

DelBene said she will return 8.2 percent of her earnings to the U.S Treasury, the same percentage cut faced by federal departments — including congressional offices — as a result of the budget-cutting process known as sequestration.

Salaries of members of Congress were not included in the mandated cuts. DelBene earns $174,000 a year and an 8.2 percent cut would equal $14,268. She will return less than that amount as the sequester didn’t take effect April 1.

In a statement she said:

“As hundreds of thousands of federal workers face unpaid furloughs and funding for programs that working families depend on such as Head Start and Meals On Wheels are getting cut, the across-the-board cuts from sequestration are starting to impact people throughout the country. It’s only fair that elected leaders are affected as well.

“While I believe across-the-board cuts are the wrong approach to address our nation’s fiscal issues, as long as the sequester is in effect, I decided that taking a cut myself is the appropriate thing to do.”