Lawmakers Urge the Pentagon to Delay Furloughs

By Stephen Barr
Thursday, December 13, 2007; D04

House Majority Leader Steny H . Hoyer (D-Md.) promised yesterday that Defense Department civil service employees would not be laid off because of a budget dispute between the White House and Congress.

"Let me say to the federal employees of the Washington metropolitan area, there are not going to be any furloughs," Hoyer said at a news conference in the Capitol.

Hoyer made his pledge as the Pentagon began moving forward with layoff plans. Army Secretary Pete Geren sent a memo yesterday to the major Army commands telling them that personnel officials will be sending them specific instructions "on furlough notification procedures" and "how to determine which employees are exempt from furlough" if they hold a critical or essential job.

About two weeks ago, the Pentagon announced that it was drawing up plans to send about 100,000 federal employees and 100,000 contract workers home without pay in February and March because the Army and the Marine Corps are running out of money for the war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But Washington area House members contend that the Pentagon can reallocate funds and avoid spoiling the holiday season for Defense workers.

A review by the Congressional Research Service had found ways for the Pentagon to sustain Army and Marine Corps operations for an additional month, said Rep. James P. Moran (D-Va.), who organized yesterday's news conference.

Rather than send out furlough notices "the day before Christmas," the Pentagon could put off sending notices until late January, "after the State of the Union address," Moran said. By then, the budget dispute will be resolved, he said.

"We don't believe that federal employees should be used as bargaining chips in this process, and the fact is that the department is forcing these furloughs when they could be pushing them further out into the year," Moran said.

Asked how the furloughs could be stopped, Moran said he has talked with Hoyer and Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, about writing legislation "that would prevent the furloughs from taking place."

According to the Congressional Research Service, the Pentagon can buy time for the Army and Marine Corps by spending excess cash balances in working capital funds, delaying contracts and taking other belt-tightening measures and by deferring maintenance on military equipment.

Such budget maneuvers could free up about $7.3 billion for the Army, allowing it to extend operations from Feb. 23, when funds will probably run out, to March 29, the congressional experts estimated.

But Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said "we simply disagree with their calculations." The department is using fiscal 2008 defense appropriations to finance day-to-day activities and overseas military operations, and is running out of operations and maintenance money, he said.

The Pentagon has asked to shift $3.7 billion from Air Force and Navy personnel accounts to the Army and to shift $800 million in cash from working capital funds to the Army, Whitman noted.

The department's working capital funds, which are funded primarily through sales of products and services to the military, are losing money because of rising fuel costs, officials said. The department is also concerned that trying to slow spending would reduce services to soldiers and their families on bases around the world.

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) said yesterday that the Pentagon also could turn to the "feed and forage act," which has been used by the military since before the Civil War, to maintain operations. Davis noted that the law was used during the Vietnam War to sustain combat operations when appropriated funds fell short.

But Defense officials said the law is a funding bridge useful for only a few days and cannot be used to pay civilian employees.

"Everything that the members raised are things that we have looked at," Whitman said. "We are taking these measures because we believe there are no other measures to take."

Moran and Hoyer, however, stressed that the Washington area members of Congress are united in trying to stop furloughs at the department. In addition to Davis, they were joined at the news conference by Rep. John P. Sarbanes (D-Md.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).

Davis and Sarbanes said they were concerned that the talk of furloughs could cause long-term damage to the civil service by discouraging college graduates from considering careers in government.

"If you send a signal to prospective federal employees that they're going to sort of dangle on a string or be used on the front line in battles over the budget, it becomes very difficult to recruit good people," Sarbanes said.

Davis added: "I can't sit idly by and let this administration or anybody else solve its problems on the back of federal employees."

Stephen Barr's e-mail address isbarrs@washpost.com.