It only amounts to savings of about $1.4 million, but Republican Sen. Tom Coburn has found 10 “low priority” jobs the federal government is looking to fill that he wants eliminated.
The Oklahoma lawmaker says he found these 10 job openings on USAJobs.gov, the federal government’s official jobs list.
Coburn proposed getting rid of these jobs in order to protect the more important jobs the Obama administration claims will be impacted by the looming sequestration.
Sequestration refers to the $85 billion cuts to federal government spending on defense and discretionary spending set to go into effect March 1, if Congress and the White House do not come to an agreement on how to avert it.
“Are any of these positions more important than an air traffic controller, a border patrol officer, a food inspector, a TSA screener, or a civilian supporting our men and women in combat in Afghanistan?” Coburn wrote in a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget on Monday.
He added: “Not filling the jobs advertised in just these ten vacancy announcements could save as much as $1.4 million that could be redirected towards more essential jobs being targeted for sequestration savings.”
Here are the ten jobs Coburn wants axed, according to his letter:
• A staff assistant at the Department Of Labor to answer phones, salary range from $51,630 to $81,204 per year;
• Ten drivers for the State Department, pay ranges from $22.76 to $26.45 per hour.
• A policy coordinator for the Department of Health and Human Services to attend and facilitate meetings and coordinate policies within the department, salary range from $51,630 to $81,204 per year;
• A director for the Air Force History and Museums Policies and Programs to provide guidance of historical matters throughout the Department of the Air Force, salary ranges from $143,600 to $165,300 per year;
• An analyst for the Legislative Affairs Office of the Marine Corps to provide representation to Capitol Hill, salary range from $80,000 to $90,000 per year;
• A director for the Government Employee Services Division of the Department of Agriculture improve services to federal employees, salary ranges from $119,554 to $179,700 per year;
• A counsel for the Morris K. Udall Scholarship Foundation, salary range from $130,000 to $155,000 per year;
• An executive assistant at the Department of Agriculture Forest Service to prepare itineraries and briefing and information material packages, salary ranges from $47,448 to $57,408 per year; and
• An executive staff officer for the Air Force to represent the director of staff at meetings, write draft reports, memos, and e-mails for the director, and prepare responses to correspondence, e-mails and requests for information, salary ranges from $71,674 to $93,175 per year.
