s*********8
发帖数: 901 | 1 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Department civilian employees will have to
take 14 days of unpaid leave this year instead of the 22 previously planned
after Congress adjusted Pentagon funding in a measure signed by the
president this week, an official said on Thursday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Defense Secretary
Chuck Hagel decided on Wednesday to reduce the number of furlough days
facing most of the Pentagon's nearly 800,000 civilian employees to 14 from
22.
The Pentagon had been set to send out furlough notices to employees last
week, but delayed the move after Congress passed a measure that funded the
government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. The
department said it needed two weeks to see how the measure affected Pentagon
finances.
The Defense Department is facing more than $40 billion in budget cuts this
year under a process known as sequestration after Congress and the White
House failed to reach an agreement on alternative ways to reduce deficits.
The new cuts went into effect on March 1.
The Pentagon budget also has been squeezed by a temporary funding mechanism
that left it with a shortfall in the main account used to pay civilian
personnel.
The funding measure signed by Obama this week kept the budget cuts under
sequestration intact but allocated more money to the account used to pay
civilians, letting the Pentagon reduce the amount of unpaid leave.
The Pentagon has not announced how many of its nearly 800,000 civilians will
have to take unpaid leave, but officials have predicted it could be in the
range of 80 percent.
Officials have said civilians supporting the war effort would not be
affected, but a final decision on how many other essential personnel would
be exempted has not been announced. |
|
