Obama Attacks “Excessive” Executive Compensation President Obama is proposing to slash contractors’ allowable costs for executive compensation to around $200,000, from the present cap of nearly $694,000. The proposal is part of Obama’s plan for economic growth and deficit reduction. It would not affect how much a contractor can pay executives, but would limit the amount reimbursed by the government on cost-based contracts. The change would bring allowable contractor compensation in line with the maximum pay for cabinet members. According to the plan sent to the congressional supercommittee on Sept. 19, “[T]he administration believes the government is reimbursing too much for contractor executives, and the [current] cap’s amount cannot be justified.” Contractor groups opposed the lower cap. Stan Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council, said the cap on government executives’ compensation “has been consistently documented as being far lower than appropriate comparable compensation in the private sector. Relying solely on the government scale would place both government agencies and private sector companies at a significant disadvantage in the competition for talent.” The cap for contractors is set by a formula using top executives’ compensation in publicly traded companies. Any change would require congressional approval.