August 1, 2007 4:09PM 

# Is Federal Pay Too High? 

By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) 

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[Chris Edwards writes below](https://www.cato.org/2007/08/01/new-federal-pay-data/) that the gap between federal pay and private-sector pay continues to widen, with federal employees now making more than twice as much as private employees. Meanwhile, a [congressional committee is holding hearings](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/31/AR2007073101853.html) on whether federal employees are underpaid or overpaid. Do you think they’ll hear testimony about why federal employees make twice as much as private-sector workers? Or about the fact that [federal quit rates](http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/11/20061130-17.html) are far lower than private-sector quit rates, suggesting that most federal employees are pretty satisfied?

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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