Biden Not Joining Symbolic Pay Cut Gesture

He's got bills to pay, man!

Unlike his boss and several other Cabinet members, Vice President Joe Biden will hold off on taking a pay reduction in solidarity with government workers hit by the sequestration budget cuts, his office said Friday.

Biden will take a pay cut if and when members of his own staff are affected. "The vice president is committed to sharing the burden of the sequester with his staff," a representative said.

President Barack Obama is to take a 5 percent pay cut in 2013, equivalent to $20,000, in a show of sympathy with federal employees.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will return the equivalent of 14 days' pay, and Secretary of State John Kerry will donate 5 percent of his salary to charity.