By ANDREW ACKERMAN – President Barack Obama plans to return 5% of his salary this year to the Treasury, a symbolic gesture of solidarity with federal workers facing possible furloughs—and reduced pay—because of automatic spending cuts known as the sequester.

His decision, announced by the White House on Wednesday, means Mr. Obama will forgo $20,000 of his $400,000 salary. The 5% cut matches the level of reductions to most nondefense, discretionary programs under the sequester, which took effect March 1. Defense programs will be cut by nearly 7.8%.

A White House aide said Mr. Obama plans to write a check each month, starting this month.

Mr. Obama’s presidential salary is just a portion of his overall income.

In 2011, the most recent year available, Barack and Michelle Obama reported $789,674 in gross income.

Before the cuts kicked in last month, the administration painted a dire picture of their expected impact on the economy and national security.

Many Republicans said the cuts were necessary to trim the deficit, although some argued that the Defense Department’s share of the cuts should be reduced.

More than 70,000 federal employees have received notices that their agencies intend to furlough them as early as this month, according to administration officials—including 47,000 at the Federal Aviation Administration, 17,000 at the Environmental Protection Agency and 480 at the Office of Management and Budget, which oversees implementing the sequester.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters this week that the sequester’s impacts are “real” and “a moving picture.

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Mr. Obama’s salary announcement, which was reported Wednesday by the New York Times, comes a day after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he would voluntarily give up part of his $200,000 annual salary. Mr. Hagel’s decision follows a similar move by Ashton Carter, the deputy defense secretary.

The Pentagon is preparing to tell most of its 800,000 civilian workers to take up to 14 days off without pay to deal with the $41 billion Defense Department portion of the cuts.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324600704578401012394974692.html