U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Wednesday notified the Congress that should automatic budget cuts be triggered on March 1, the Pentagon would be forced to furlough much of its civilian workforce.
According to a memo to all Department of Defense (DoD) employees,
Panetta said although the department would be able to exempt
military personnel funding from the cuts, known as sequestration,
they have no legal authority to exempt civilian personnel funding
from reductions.
"As a result, should sequestration occur and continue for a
substantial period, DoD will be forced to place the vast majority of
its civilian workforce on administrative furlough," said Panetta.
According to Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, civilian
employees could lose 20 percent of their normal income through
September if they are furloughed.
Panetta said the department will work to ensure furloughs are
executed in a consistent and appropriate manner, and all affected
employees will be provided at least 30 days' notice prior to
executing a furlough, and their benefits will be protected to the
maximum extent possible.
Panetta also vowed to continue working with Congress to avoid
sequestration, which would add 470 billion dollars to the 487
billion in defense spending cuts the department already is making
over the next 10 years. If Congress cannot agree on an alternative
deficit reduction plan, the cuts go into effect March 1.
The automatic cuts would mean 85 billion dollars of cuts to be
implemented in the final seven months of the current fiscal year,
which ends Sept. 30. Defense spending would bear about half of them.
