The Pentagon is still assessing how many civilian employees will be forced to take up to two weeks of unpaid leave because of “sequestration” budget cuts, though it knows one high-profile official who will be impacted: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters Tuesday that Hagel will voluntarily forego up to 14 days of his pay this fiscal year. The move would be a show of solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of civilian Pentagon workers who will be forced to take unpaid furlough days as a result of the $41 billion in sequestration spending reductions that started March 1.
“I had a discussion shortly after he took office with the (defense) secretary and he will voluntarily subject part of his salary to furlough levels, even though he’s not required,” Little said at the Pentagon. Hagel will join Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in voluntarily docking his pay in line with the furlough reductions. The two senior officials are not legally subject to the forced unpaid days because they are appointees appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Up to 750,000 of the Pentagon’s 800,000 civilian employees will be furloughed in fiscal year 2013, which ends Sept. 30, because of the $500 billion in longterm sequestration cuts to planned defense spending that started March 1. While President Barack Obama and many lawmakers oppose sequestration, they have not been able to agree on an alternative plan to cut the federal deficit.
Hagel announced on March 28 that the Pentagon scaled back its plans for furloughs. Now, he told reporters, civilian employees will face up to 14 days of furloughs through Sept. 30, instead of the 22 days previously planned. Yet he did not say that day how many employees would be impacted.
“We are working through all the analytics on the numbers of civilian employees who we…regrettably have to furlough in the coming weeks, including me,” Little said Tuesday. “And I don’t know that we’ve arrived at a specific number yet.”
Hagel unveiled the scaled-back plans for furloughs–from 22 to 14 days–after Obama on March 26 signed into law a fiscal year 2013 defense appropriations act, which was part of a broader continuing resolution (CR) funding the government until Sept. 30.
The newly signed defense appropriations act gives the Pentagon more flexibility to manage the sequestration cuts, by allowing it to reprogram funding in its coffers. The measure also adjusts defense funding–with a notable $10 billion boost to operations and maintenance monies–to better reflect spending needs this fiscal year.
Hagel said reducing the number of furlough days would leave the Pentagon with $2.5 billion in savings, instead of the $4 billion that would be achieved with the higher number of days.
Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale previously estimated the furloughs could apply to up to 750,000 of the Pentagon’s 800,000 civilian employees. Still, Little said on Tuesday Pentagon officials “have not completed the final tally.” The furloughs do not apply to uniformed personnel and some categories of civilian employees, including civilian workers in war zones and foreign nationals employed overseas.
“We expect the vast majority of civilian employees at this point to be subject to furloughs,” Little said.
The Pentagon is required to notify Congress 45 days in advance of potential furloughs, and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta provided such a warning to lawmakers on Feb. 20. However, as the CR neared final passage, the Pentagon announced on March 21 that it would delay plans to issue furlough notices for approximately two weeks. (Defense Daily, March 22). That was less than two weeks ago.
After Obama signed the new defense budget, Hagel also said sequestration will tap $41 billion in defense spending this fiscal year, not the $46 billion previously estimated.