WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- President Barack Obama plans to return 5 percent of his salary to the U.S. Treasury, in solidarity with federal workers who are going to be furloughed in the automatic budget cuts known as the sequester, The New York Times said in an online report on Wednesday.
The move would be retroactive to March 1 and apply through the rest of the fiscal year, which ends in September. The White House came up with the 5-percent figure to approximate the level of spending cuts to nondefense federal agencies that took effect at the beginning of last month.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed official as saying that Obama " has decided that to share in the sacrifice being made by public servants across the federal government that are affected by the sequester."
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced earlier that they would return a share of their salaries to show solidarity with civilian Pentagon employees, a majority of whom are to be furloughed.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate on Thursday approved the postponement of the federal government's debt ceiling until May to keep the federal government in operation and give lawmakers more time to mull over how to rein in the government's mounting deficit.
The 64-34 vote in the Democratic-led Senate sent the bill to U. S. President Barack Obama to sign into law. The White House has said Obama would sign it. Full story
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. economy is looking healthier than it has for years despite dysfunction in Washington.
Consumers and businesses are willing to spend; banks are healthier; and household finances are in the best shape in five years. Companies are sitting on piles of cash; the stock market is doing well and Tuesday saw the second-highest rate of existing home sales since 2009. Full story
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