The NSA and handfuls of other departments have figured out how to effectively use contractors (who are paid handsomely above that federal pay cap). That's sepa

The NSA and handfuls of other departments have figured out how to effectively use contractors (who are paid handsomely above that federal pay cap). That's separate from the discussion of what these perverse incentives (eg. pay more to mercenaries than to lifelong government servants) do to morale, capabilities, and institutional knowledge. It gets far worse when the president casually says that we should just fire emergency specialists and suggest we can hire them back on short notice in the middle of an emergency.