"This is the type of thing that could be a nice great experiment, and they may decide that if the rest of America can't get its act together, there may be something similar coming through," said Bruce Ellig, author of "The Complete Guide to Executive Compensation."  "This could be a broad-gauge extension across industries."

Executive compensation at some companies receiving bailout money provoked public and political outrage this year and prompted calls for the government to rein in and regulate executive pay. The administration responded by appointing Kenneth Feinberg as federal compensation czar. Feinberg's job is to set the pay for 175 top executives at seven companies that received federal assistance.

His appointment was part of broader recommendations on executive pay. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also called on Congress to adopt "say on pay" legislation, giving shareholders the ability to hold nonbinding votes on compensation levels. The administration also plans to push legislation giving corporate compensation committees more authority and more independence to set pay for top executives.

These developments have convinced compensation expert David C. D'Alessandro that the federal government could be setting the stage for broader inroads into executive pay at all public companies.

"Do I think these are test balloons that will result in more government oversight of executive compensation?" D'Alessandro, a partner at Dallas law firm Vinson & Elkins LLP, told the Dallas Morning News. "Not only am I willing to say that is my prediction, I feel very strongly that the Obama administration will succeed in getting a few of these things pushed through."

The government, he said, could conclude "why shouldn't this be a wholesale policy in industries that are doing quite well? I firmly believe we will hear that argument."

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