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Washington, D.C., December 12th – Congressman Jim Moran, Virginia Democrat and senior Member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, held a press conference this afternoon to announce a host of military budgeting options that would delay the need for a federal employee furlough until at least late March, over a month longer than the Defense Department claims is possible.
“The administration is using federal employees as bargaining chips to force Congress to immediately pass war funding. It’s a budget showdown tactic that comes at the expense of federal employee paychecks,” said Moran.
But in a recently released report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS), options to extend Army operations and delay the need for a furlough in advance of more war funding are laid out in detail.
“What the report shows us is that by shifting excess cash balances, slowing obligations and deferring depot maintenance in the short run, the Defense Department can prevent the need to furlough DOD employees until at least late March – a full five weeks longer than the military claims is possible. The backbone of our national security infrastructure, DOD civilian employees, should not be taken out of action until absolutely necessary. The budgeting tools to avoid such a scenario are clear. Congress stands ready to work with the administration to prevent an unnecessary furlough.”
Last week, Moran led a group of Washington metro area delegation Members in sending a letter to the White House and Defense Department, requesting a delay in issuing furlough notices until after the holidays and for every appropriate budgetary tool to be exhausted before furloughing. The Defense Department has stated that, by law, federal employees must receive notice of being furloughed 60 days in advance -- meaning these notices would be delivered just in time for the holidays.
The following are budget options available to delay the furlough of federal DOD employees as determined by CRS:
Budget Options for Delaying Furlough of Federal Defense Department Employees
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Budget Options
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Funds Transferred
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# of Weeks/Days Financed
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Furlough Delayed Until
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DOD’s current plan: Use all funds in regular FY08 Defense Appropriations Act; transfer $800 million of working capital fund balances to Army
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$31.5 billion
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21 weeks (assuming $1.5 billion per week)
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February 23, 2008
(current official estimate)
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Use remaining excess cash balances in working capital funds
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$2.1 billion
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10 days
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March 3, 2008
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Slow obligations of funds through progressively more restrictive limits, as the Army planned and began to implement in April 2007
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$3.6 billion
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17 days
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March 20, 2008
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Defer depot maintenance of $400 million per month
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$1.6 billion
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7 to 9 days
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March 27-29, 2008
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*For a copy of the full CRS report including consequences of the budget options listed above, please contact Rep. Moran’s office.
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