Obama to take salary cut to draw attention to flight of federal workers facing furloughs President Obama plans to give up 5 percent of his salary this year to draw attention to the financial sacrifice of more than 1 million federal employees who will be furloughed by automatic spending cuts starting in less than three weeks, the White House said Wednesday. The gesture comes as the president has struggled for weeks to convince Americans that the $85 billion sequester that kicked in across the government a month ago is having dire consequences for government services. How sequestration will impact federal departments The most common reaction to the disgraced former governor's victory Tuesday in a GOP House-seat runoff: What the heck? Glenn Kessler But the number has some question marks. Chris Cillizza and Sean Sullivan Obama, who earns $400,000, wrote a check to the U.S. Treasury this week, the first installment of his donation of $20,000, retroactive to March 1, the day sequestration started to slice 5 percent from non-Defense programs, a White House official said. The checks will continue through the end of the year. Obama cannot claim true solidarity with most federal employees. He has published two best-selling autobiographies and the vast majority of his income comes in the form of royalties. According to tax returns, the president and Michelle Obama made $750,000 in 2011. In the previous year, the couple made $1.8 million and in 2009 they reported an annual income of $5.5 million. But the move to give back a part of his salary served to refocus attention on an issue that polling suggests is drawing mixed opinions from Americans. Other high-profile members of his administration have done the same, and others may follow. On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he will return a portion of his salary to share the pain with 750,000 Defense civilians who will lose 14 days of pay this fiscal year. The Environmental Protection Agency announced that Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe decided - before the president's action became public - to donate 32 hours of pay to a fund that provides emergency loans, child-care subsidies and other financial help to federal workers. And the Department of Housing and Urban Development disclosed that Secretary Shaun Donovan and eight politically appointed deputies will donate seven days worth of salaries. Their checks will either go back to the Treasury or to a nonprofit housing group that helps low-income Americans. "HUD's leadership stands in solidarity with the rest of the employees and we are committed to sharing in this sacrifice together," Deputy Secretary Maurice Jones said in a statement. Vice President Biden's office said he has not decided whether he will follow suit. The president's donation was quickly ridiculed by the Republican National Committee, which threw the symbolism back at the White House in this blistering statement: Hi all, don't worry about that whole budget thing taxpayers. Obama is giving back 5 percent. . . . And then he'll hop on Air Force One to take a $180k per HOUR ride to fundraise with the same fat cat millionaires and billionaires he campaigned against. Organizations representing federal employees from rank-and-file to senior executives said they appreciate the gesture and hope other Cabinet secretaries follow suit. But they said it hardly takes the sting out of lost pay.