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President Barack Obama will pay back 5 percent of his annual government salary to the U.S. Treasury. It's a move meant to signal solidarity with federal workers facing furloughs because of automatic spending cuts known as sequestration, the White House said Wednesday. Obama makes $400,000 in presidential pay (though, thanks in part to book royalties, his 2011 tax filings show that his adjusted gross income that year was $789,674). Between now and Oct. 1, the end of the 2013 fiscal year, he will cut monthly checks that will total $20,000, an aide told Yahoo News. The announcement came one day after the Pentagon revealed that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel would return 14 days� pay, or roughly $10,750, based on his annual salary of $199,700. The symbolic move came amid widespread news reports that sequestration �deep, indiscriminate government spending cuts�were hitting Americans� bottom line and leaving gaps in key services. The New York Times first reported Obama�s decision. �The salary for the president, as with members of Congress, is set by law and cannot be changed,� another aide said to Yahoo News on condition of anonymity. �However, the president has decided that to share in the sacrifice being made by public servants across the federal government that are affected by the sequester, he will contribute a portion of his salary back to the Treasury.�