| Detroit Free Press | - |
WASHINGTON
-- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress on Wednesday that the
Pentagon will implement furloughs for most of its estimated 800,000
civilian employees -- including about 7,500 in Michigan -- beginning
next week if the deep, ...
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Leon Panetta warns most civilian defense workers will be furloughed if sequestration isn't stopped
February 21, 2013 |
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U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta / Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images
WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress on
Wednesday that the Pentagon will implement furloughs for most of its
estimated 800,000 civilian employees -- including about 7,500 in
Michigan -- beginning next week if the deep, automatic cuts known as
sequestration aren't avoided.
Panetta, the outgoing head of the Defense Department, also let military personnel know Wednesday about the wide-ranging effects of sequestration "and the severe damage that would do both to this department and to our national defense."
Sequestration is expected to go into effect March 1 unless a divided Congress can forestall it. President Barack Obama said earlier this week that the action will result in $85 billion in cuts to the federal budget in the remaining seven months of the fiscal year.
About half of the cuts come from defense spending. While active-duty military personnel would be protected, civilian employees could face furlough for a day a week. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has said that civilian workers could lose 20% of their pay through the end of the fiscal year in September.
"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 said Wednesday in a letter to employees.
The letter said the "vast majority" of the civilian work force will have to be placed on administrative furlough unless sequestration is avoided. However, Panetta also said affected employees would be provided at least 30 days' notice before a furlough was started.
Because its military employment is relatively small, Michigan isn't expected to be hit as hard as some other states by the cuts. But they still will be felt.
On Tuesday, the Army estimated that 6,651 civilian workers could face furlough, representing a loss in pay of $40 million. The Air Force -- which has National Guard bases in Harrison Township and Battle Creek -- estimates just over 800 civilian workers could face furlough, representing about $6 million in lost pay.
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Panetta, the outgoing head of the Defense Department, also let military personnel know Wednesday about the wide-ranging effects of sequestration "and the severe damage that would do both to this department and to our national defense."
Sequestration is expected to go into effect March 1 unless a divided Congress can forestall it. President Barack Obama said earlier this week that the action will result in $85 billion in cuts to the federal budget in the remaining seven months of the fiscal year.
About half of the cuts come from defense spending. While active-duty military personnel would be protected, civilian employees could face furlough for a day a week. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has said that civilian workers could lose 20% of their pay through the end of the fiscal year in September.
"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 said Wednesday in a letter to employees.
The letter said the "vast majority" of the civilian work force will have to be placed on administrative furlough unless sequestration is avoided. However, Panetta also said affected employees would be provided at least 30 days' notice before a furlough was started.
Because its military employment is relatively small, Michigan isn't expected to be hit as hard as some other states by the cuts. But they still will be felt.
On Tuesday, the Army estimated that 6,651 civilian workers could face furlough, representing a loss in pay of $40 million. The Air Force -- which has National Guard bases in Harrison Township and Battle Creek -- estimates just over 800 civilian workers could face furlough, representing about $6 million in lost pay.
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