swsop
12-14-2007, 12:12 PM
Washington Times
December 14, 2007
100,000 Workers Face Furlough At Pentagon
Democratic leaders urged to OK funds
By S.A. Miller and Sara A. Carter, Washington Times
Pentagon officials yesterday said furlough letters will hit 100,000 civilian
military employees next week in an effort to free up money for combat
troops, pressing the case for war funds as the Democrat-led Congress struggles to finish overdue spending bills.
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England warned in letters delivered
Wednesday night to top Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin of Michigan, that the pending layoffs "will negatively affect our ability to execute base operations and training activities."
"More importantly, it will affect the critical support our civilian
employees provide to our war-fighters — support which is key to our current
operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq," Mr. England said in the letters, copies of which were obtained by The Washington Times.
The civilian workers will get notice of the potential furloughs next week,
and layoff orders could arrive by mid-January, he said.
Mrs. Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat,
dismissed past furlough warnings as administration "scare tactics."
Reid spokesman Jim Manley yesterday said that Democrats had been willing to fund the war, "provided the president works with us to change course in
Iraq," and blamed Republicans for refusing.
"Bush Republicans are so afraid of being held accountable for their failed
war policy that they would rather leave our men and women on the battlefield
shorthanded than work with us," he said.
The speaker yesterday railed against Republicans for dragging out the war,
but she stopped short of conceding that war funds would go into the spending package.
"We hoped that there would be some compromise and reaching out, that there
might be some change in direction," Mrs. Pelosi said. "But they been sticking
with the president on this, and it's just a very sad state of affairs. As
I've said, this war is a catastrophic mistake."
The push for $70 billion in emergency war funds — a down payment on the
$196.4 billion request for 2008 — is just one issue gripping Democrats as they scurry to finish a massive bill to bankroll most of the federal government for the budget year that began Oct. 1.
Democratic leaders are under pressure to reduce the spending package to meet President Bush's budget limit and satisfy the administration's demands for war funding, despite fierce opposition from the party's antiwar base.
"We've been waiting for it for months [and] nearly 10 months later, we're
still waiting. ... At this rate, we're going to run out of money in the next
few weeks," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told The Times.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is consulting Pentagon lawyers on
finalizing the furloughs, but he remains hopeful that passage of emergency war funds next week will pre-empt the layoffs, Mr. Morrell said.
The notices also went to all Army command facilities in the United States
and abroad with civilian employees and contractors. Another notice was sent to U.S. Marine Corps commanders warning them of potential civilian layoffs at their bases, which should have sufficient funds until mid-March.
"Absent additional funding, you must be prepared to furlough employees paid
directly by funds appropriated to Operation and Maintenance," the letter to
Marine commanders said.
"That is why you must begin planning immediately."
Army bases are expected to suffer funding shortfalls by February.
The Democrat-led Congress, which has passed into law just one of the 12
annual appropriations bills, is rushing to finish the spending package before
adjourning for the year at the end of next week.
The House and Senate yesterday passed a stopgap measure to fund the
government until next Friday, replacing the stopgap funding that expired today.
Democratic appropriators are whittling down the omnibus spending bill to
come closer to $933 billion budget limit set by Mr. Bush, who promised to veto over-limit spending bills and had solid support from Republican lawmakers to sustain a veto.
The Democrats' first spending plan was $23 billion more than Mr. Bush's
request for 2008. They cut the excess spending to $11 billion earlier this month and Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. David R. Obey, Wisconsin Democrat, ended the short workweek kicking around a proposal that exceeds the limit by about $4 billion, with the extra money going to veterans' health-care programs.
The total was expected to come down further by the time the bill is
presented to lawmakers, perhaps as soon as Sunday night.
December 14, 2007
100,000 Workers Face Furlough At Pentagon
Democratic leaders urged to OK funds
By S.A. Miller and Sara A. Carter, Washington Times
Pentagon officials yesterday said furlough letters will hit 100,000 civilian
military employees next week in an effort to free up money for combat
troops, pressing the case for war funds as the Democrat-led Congress struggles to finish overdue spending bills.
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England warned in letters delivered
Wednesday night to top Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin of Michigan, that the pending layoffs "will negatively affect our ability to execute base operations and training activities."
"More importantly, it will affect the critical support our civilian
employees provide to our war-fighters — support which is key to our current
operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq," Mr. England said in the letters, copies of which were obtained by The Washington Times.
The civilian workers will get notice of the potential furloughs next week,
and layoff orders could arrive by mid-January, he said.
Mrs. Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat,
dismissed past furlough warnings as administration "scare tactics."
Reid spokesman Jim Manley yesterday said that Democrats had been willing to fund the war, "provided the president works with us to change course in
Iraq," and blamed Republicans for refusing.
"Bush Republicans are so afraid of being held accountable for their failed
war policy that they would rather leave our men and women on the battlefield
shorthanded than work with us," he said.
The speaker yesterday railed against Republicans for dragging out the war,
but she stopped short of conceding that war funds would go into the spending package.
"We hoped that there would be some compromise and reaching out, that there
might be some change in direction," Mrs. Pelosi said. "But they been sticking
with the president on this, and it's just a very sad state of affairs. As
I've said, this war is a catastrophic mistake."
The push for $70 billion in emergency war funds — a down payment on the
$196.4 billion request for 2008 — is just one issue gripping Democrats as they scurry to finish a massive bill to bankroll most of the federal government for the budget year that began Oct. 1.
Democratic leaders are under pressure to reduce the spending package to meet President Bush's budget limit and satisfy the administration's demands for war funding, despite fierce opposition from the party's antiwar base.
"We've been waiting for it for months [and] nearly 10 months later, we're
still waiting. ... At this rate, we're going to run out of money in the next
few weeks," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told The Times.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is consulting Pentagon lawyers on
finalizing the furloughs, but he remains hopeful that passage of emergency war funds next week will pre-empt the layoffs, Mr. Morrell said.
The notices also went to all Army command facilities in the United States
and abroad with civilian employees and contractors. Another notice was sent to U.S. Marine Corps commanders warning them of potential civilian layoffs at their bases, which should have sufficient funds until mid-March.
"Absent additional funding, you must be prepared to furlough employees paid
directly by funds appropriated to Operation and Maintenance," the letter to
Marine commanders said.
"That is why you must begin planning immediately."
Army bases are expected to suffer funding shortfalls by February.
The Democrat-led Congress, which has passed into law just one of the 12
annual appropriations bills, is rushing to finish the spending package before
adjourning for the year at the end of next week.
The House and Senate yesterday passed a stopgap measure to fund the
government until next Friday, replacing the stopgap funding that expired today.
Democratic appropriators are whittling down the omnibus spending bill to
come closer to $933 billion budget limit set by Mr. Bush, who promised to veto over-limit spending bills and had solid support from Republican lawmakers to sustain a veto.
The Democrats' first spending plan was $23 billion more than Mr. Bush's
request for 2008. They cut the excess spending to $11 billion earlier this month and Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. David R. Obey, Wisconsin Democrat, ended the short workweek kicking around a proposal that exceeds the limit by about $4 billion, with the extra money going to veterans' health-care programs.
The total was expected to come down further by the time the bill is
presented to lawmakers, perhaps as soon as Sunday night.