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Defense Secretary: The Sequester Will Likely Force Us to Furlough 800K Civilian Workers

Feb. 20, 2013 6:30pm Becket Adams

Defense Sec.: The Sequester Will Likely Force Us to Furlough 800K Civilian Workers

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta testifies on the attack on the US facilities in Benghazi, Libya, before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Feb. 7, 2013. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress on Wednesday that if the sequester (i.e. automatic government spending cuts) kicks in on March 1, he may have to shorten the workweek for the “vast majority” of the Defense Department’s 800,000 civilian workers.

They would lose one day of work per week, or 20 percent of their pay, for up to 22 weeks, probably starting in late April.

Again, that’s 800,000 civilian workers.

To dispel the notion that this is mainly a problem for the nation’s capital, the Pentagon’s budget chief, Robert Hale, told reporters that the economic impact would be felt nationwide. The biggest potential losses, in term of total civilian payroll dollars, would be in Virginia, California, Maryland, Texas, and Georgia, according to figures provided by the Pentagon.

Hale said the unpaid leaves for civilian workers would begin in late April and would save $4 billion to $5 billion if extended through the end of the budget year, Sept. 30. That is only a fraction of the $46 billion the Pentagon would have to cut this budget year unless a deficit-reduction deal is reached.

Panetta also said the across-the-board spending reductions would “put us on a path toward a hollow force,” meaning a military incapable of fulfilling all of its missions.

In a written message to employees, Panetta said that he notified members of Congress Wednesday that if the White House and Congress cannot strike a deficit reduction deal before March 1 to avoid the furloughs, all affected workers will get at least 30 days’ advance notice.

“In the event of sequestration we will do everything we can to be able to continue to perform our core mission of providing for the security of the United States, but there is no mistaking that the rigid nature of the cuts forced upon this department, and their scale, will result in a serious erosion of readiness across the force,” Panetta wrote.

House Speaker John Boehner put the blame on Obama and said he agrees with Panetta that automatic spending cuts would devastate the military.

Boehner released a copy of Panetta’s letter formally notifying Congress that the Pentagon will have to consider furloughing a large portion of its civilian workforce if sequestration kicks in.

President Barack Obama speaks with Speaker of the House John Boehner during a meeting at the White House in Wash., DC, in this July 23, 2011 file photo. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

“The furloughs contemplated by this notice will do real harm to our national security,” Panetta wrote in his congressional notification letter, adding that it would make troops less ready for combat and slow the acquisition of important weapons.

“Overall, sequestration will put us on a path toward a hollow force and inflict serious damage on our national security,” Panetta wrote.

The Pentagon has begun discussing details of the furloughs with defense worker union officials.

The only civilian Pentagon workers who would be exempt from furloughs would be Senate-confirmed political appointees such as the defense secretary and deputy defense secretary, as well as a relatively small number of workers deemed essential to protect the safety of defense property and personnel.

Final Thought: There’s really no sense in trying to blame any one person for all this drama. Indeed, consider the following:

Dumbest political argument in DC: who created the sequester. Bill written, passed by Congress, bipartisan vote, signed by Obama. The End.

— Jonathan Weisman (@jonathanweisman) February 17, 2013

Yes, the sequester is the result of a deal struck by Congress in 2011, the president signed off on it, and now no one wants to take responsibility for it.

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

The AP contributed to this report. Featured image Getty Images.

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Comments (159)

HI_Don
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 9:36pm
If any of those laid off are janitors, hand the mops and toilet brushes to congress and the senate. Their not doing anything anyway.

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- katzkiner
  Posted on February 21, 2013 at 4:30am
  Yes they are, stealing every $$$ they can grab.
  
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carolsue1ok
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 9:35pm
recently where I worked we had to lay some people off. We work on the capitalist principle. Do you need all of those people?

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thegreatcarnac
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 9:33pm
Obama is a tyrant. He is attacking white, middle-class people in his threats. He threatens that teachers will be out of jobs, police and firemen will be cut, FBI and other government workers will be furloughed and civilian workers by the thousands will lose jobs. All of these are White middle-class concerns and he is threatening to affect them if the Republicans make him stand by cuts that he suggested in the first place. Even with these cuts the amount of money cut is so minute in comparison to spending that the job losses obama threatens are NOT necessary. He will get people laid off for spite if he doesn’t get his way and the people involved need to know that. Obama is a monster who needs impeaching.

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Clausvons
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 9:25pm
The two major objectives of both George Soros and his puppet are; 1, weaken the US economy and, 2, weaken the US Military. The timing of the sequestration was simply to lay a financial landmine that would go off between the 2012 election and Barry Soetoro’s departure should he not win the election. Barry does not care about the economy, and his $787 Bn porkulus was his first assault on the economy. Little, if any, of the porkulus dollars found their way to small businesses.

Barry’s march to socialism is only partially blocked. The two obstacles Barry must overcome are the middle class and small business. So far, he has done a remarkable job of weakening both. The real coup will come when Israel takes on Iran. Few are thinking about the sequence of events which will quickly follow that event.

The world markets will crash, gold will double in value, gas will shoot to at least $7.50 a gallon, if not higher. About a half million radical Islamic Jihadists will come out from under their rocks in England, France, and Spain answering the call for a global Jihad. The devastation they will cause will not go unnoticed by the world markets, which further decline to catastrophic lows. Those who have 401K programs may see over half their wealth disappear in days. We were warned in Nov ’08!

http://www.humanevents.com/2008/11/05/george-soros-liberal-agenda-will-carry-weight-in-obama-presidency/

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- katzkiner
  Posted on February 21, 2013 at 4:38am
  You best believe we have tens thousand jihadists over here too. Akmadinajabby meets with them every time he comes to NY. How many have come across Janets’ “secure” border?
  
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Liberty_76
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 9:18pm
I am very aware of the general public’s attitude toward federal workers and unfortunately, there are many who contribute to the negative stereotype; however, not all who work in the federal sector are lazy or stupid. I am a DoD employee, in fact, a proud Department of the Army civilian worker. My job supports the warfighter. Do you think those soldiers in Afghanistan might be negatively affected by this? Yes, I guarantee they will. We are being told we will take a 20% pay cut because of sequestration. Any of you willing to take a 20% pay cut? Do you all live in a vacuum where the loss of our pay won’t affect you? If you own a small business in my area, you are going to feel the effects of 5,000 DoD employees losing 20% of their pay over the next eight months. Do you suppose those cuts might affect the contractors that also work for us? I guarantee contractor employees will be laid off because of this. Think it through, folks. This is going to be very, very painful and not just for the federal workers. The economic impact is going to be substantial – wait and see.

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Dano9375
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 8:51pm
If Obama really cared about the good of our country, we wouldn’t be in this situation and if he cared just a little bit about our country, he’d fix this tomorrow so easily. He only cares about himself and politics and gaining power by using all the ignorant and uninformed voters to give him that power. If the people were informed and actually cared about our country he wouldn’t be president and our country would be on its way to a real recovery. At this rate he may be able to crash the system (our economy) even sooner….

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700P
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 8:48pm
So SECDEF, these furloughs include….yourself?

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judyaz
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 8:39pm
Just a suggestion — don’t outsource as many contracts to private businesses, but keep the money in house and let soldiers and civil servants do the job more cheaply.
(Better yet, let Obama save taxpayer money by not giving foreign aid to foreign states hostile to the U.S.)

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AlaskaismyEden
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 8:33pm
Yeah, so they layoff CIVILIAN workers… how about laying off some of those government workers, who make higher pay than in the private sector? Better yet, layoff Congress, Senate, h3ll, ALL OF THEM. They don’t seem to WORK, at least for the American People, anymore! Meh!

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texanpatriot
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 8:31pm
Let’s get on with it. Cuts are never easy — oh wait! How would this crowd know. Either begin cutting or rename us Greece. My plan it to start with Texas and invite some other great states and move on.

We don’t need a thing they have built in the last 100 years; Would rather start with what we had 230 years ago…

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denkat56
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 8:30pm
I’ll bet not even one politician will be furloughed.

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VoteRightDammit
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 8:29pm
ANY spending cut is a GOOD spending cut.

These pussified, pathetic cowards are too cowardly to do this the right way … so what. Do it the wrong way. BUT CUT THE DAMNED SPENDING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Advection
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 8:17pm
I was fooled by their propaganda at first, but it turned it that is only a tiny cut. The sweet thing about this deal is that it was Obama’s own idea, and Republicans were supposed to beg Obama to avoid the cut AND give him something in exchange for avoiding it.

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TRILO
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 8:05pm
Boo Hoo. Let me get my violin to play a sad song for the Pentagon or any other federal department. Here is an idea, rather than furlough these employees give them a damn pink slip. Then next week, set initiation another sequester bill and fire another 800,000 and continue the cutting and firing until the federal government is down to just a handful of people.

I am sick and tired of both sides acting like this is the end of the world.

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noslave
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 8:00pm
theres also to be cuts in frivilous spending thats not military yet no mention of that SACRED COW??,just like the only bad people are the republican congress??HEY THERES THE DO NOTHING CONTIPATED SENATE THAT WONT PASS ANYTHING??LIKE A BUDGET?? why not mention those ******??

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ALL4FREEDOM
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 7:59pm
I hope they empty out Washington. Permanently.

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Diane TX
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 7:50pm
Keatonc333
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 7:25pm

Spending cuts at this time is a terrible idea anyway! It would hurt the economy MUCH more than it would help our deficit! extending the current spending for at least another two years is the best option!
_____________________________________________________________________________

Hmm, another two years you say? Wouldn’t that give the “Spend N Tax” Dems time to flip the House and come in with a majority House and Senate? Wait … did I just expose their evil plan?

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Tom70
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 7:46pm
Bovine excriment! This Obama sycophant is just fallowing the template set out by Obama. The sky is falling, the sky is falling. CRAP. Glad to see him go don’t let the door hit you in the ass. Problem is now he will return to the Peoples Republic of Calif and they will name an airport or a freeway for the bustard. WOMEN IN COMBAT my aching ****.

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cowboy578
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 7:30pm
This mean I won’t have to pay for the healthcare since they won’t be getting a 40 hour week?

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My Two Cents
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 7:28pm
Poor things will lose one day a week. It’s called shared sacrifice. Their dear leader said so.

They could fire them all and I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.

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garbagecanlogic
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 7:26pm
Good, start with the sec of defense himself.

Praise Be To Obama. Psalm 109:8

The U.N. Out Of The U.S.
The U.S. Out Of The U.N.

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dublinthewagons
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 7:22pm
How many defense contractors overcharge the government? How many defense jobs are union?
This whole thing stinks of dog breath.

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Evolved
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 7:15pm
It’s amazing. I’ve never seen so many ‘holier than thou cu-ts” all in one place. Truly. Amazing. Keep posting ur batsh1t crazy posts. Us “********” revel in ur hatred. Remember 9/11/01

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- Stelex
  Posted on February 20, 2013 at 7:26pm
  Son, you shouldn’t drink and post. Drunk, fat and stupid is no way to go through life. By the way, your handle “EVOLVED” is meaningless without knowing what you evolved from. The Flu evolved from something moron.
  
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chips1
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 7:12pm
China knows we don’t have any money, so if they are too stupid to figure it out, T.S.

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- freeberty
  Posted on February 20, 2013 at 7:53pm
  China is no longer buying our debt, it’s your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great-great grandchildren…..
  
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Tri-ox
Posted on February 20, 2013 at 7:12pm
Well, the sequester was really obama’s idea – something that even democrats agree on … so, let it burn.

Max Baucus (D-MT) – on sequester: “The White House recommended it, frankly, back in August 2011.”

http://twitchy.com/2013/02/20/dem-sen-max-baucus-speaks-out-of-turn-admits-sequester-was-white-houses-idea/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAd1trp0rgk&feature=youtu.be

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