Defense Secretary Threatens to Lay Off Civilians If Congress Doesn’t Repeal Sequestration: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel this week sent a letter to the House Armed Services Committee threatening to lay off civilians, freeze hiring, halt training and slash a number of programs if Congress fails to support the department’s proposed budget for fiscal 2014. Measures the Pentagon proposed in its 2014 budget include a repeal of the $52 billion cut under sequestration, a new round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) in 2015, slower growth in military pay, higher fees for Tricare retiree copay, retirement of some ships and aircraft, among other things. “If Congress does not approve these proposals, even more cuts in combat power, readiness and modernization would be needed to accommodate cuts of $52 billion in FY 2014 and similar cuts later years,” Hagel wrote. “I urge Congress to pass a balanced deficit reduction package that the president can sign that would replace these deep and arbitrary budget cuts in FY 2014 and in future years.”
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 03:19:45 +0000
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