Federal employees may not be getting pay increases for the next two years, President Obama announced Monday.

Obama called for the pay freeze as he makes one of many "difficult decisions" necessary to slash the nation's mounting deficits.

"The hard truth is that getting this deficit under control is going to require some broad sacrifice, and that sacrifice must be shared by the employees of the federal government," Obama said.

White House officials estimated the pay freeze would save $5 billion over the next two years, $28 billion over five years and more than $60 billion over 10 years.

The freeze would affect all civilian federal employees, including those working at the U.S. Department of Defense.  Obama stressed, however, that the freeze will not affect military personnel.

Lawmakers must approve Obama's call for a freeze. Congress would not be covered by Obama's order, but lawmakers voted last April to freeze their pay.

Experts say the savings will only make a small dent in the more than $1 trillion budget deficit.