Furlough | The Contracting Education Academy

January 21, 2018 By AMK

What happened at the Defense Department during the 2013 shutdown

Yes, we’re sick of government shutdowns, but alas, here we go again. Since the fundamental issues creating the gridlock are largely the same, let’s flash back to 2013, the last time the government did in fact shut down.

That 16-day shutdown affected the entire defense enterprise, from the Pentagon to contractors. While the military remained on duty, most Pentagon civilians were initially furloughed. Those who weren’t furloughed included employees at organizations — like U.S. Transportation Command — who are paid using working capital fund coffers.

Days into the shutdown, Lockheed Martin said it would start furloughing some 3,000 employees because the government facilities where they worked were closed — and that more would be idled if the shutdown dragged on. Similarly, United Technologies, then-owner of helicopter maker Sikorsky, planned to furlough 5,000 workers.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2018/01/what-happened-defense-department-during-2013-shutdown/145277/

May 2, 2017 By AMK

Low morale, cut corners just a few of agencies’ contracting woes while Congress debates federal funding

Congress has been criticized for kicking the can down the road when it comes to federal spending, but as the government shutdown clocks ticks closer to midnight — and agencies dust off their contingency plans — some are wondering if that kicked can might be the best option right now.

The continuing resolution currently funding the government expires at 11:59 p.m., April 28. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney said April 21 that the administration did not expect a lapse in appropriations, however “prudence and common sense require routine assessments to be made.”

OMB officials said the agency planned to hold a meeting or conference call a week out from the deadline, “regardless of whether the enactment of appropriations appears imminent.”

This will be the third such call in fiscal 2017. OMB made similar calls in fiscal 2014 and 2016.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/budget/2017/04/budget-woes-stretch-beyond-agency-contracting-office-while-congress-debates-federal-funding/

December 9, 2013 By AMK

Expect sequestration to hit much harder in 2014, report says

Less severe cuts, deferred costs and temporary solutions mitigated sequestration’s effect in its inaugural year, but will not help lessen the impact in 2014, according to a new report.

The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, said the tactics federal agencies used to reduce furloughs in fiscal 2013 are, in many cases, no longer available. In fact, they will largely accentuate the severity of the cuts this time around.

For example, Congress allowed the Federal Aviation Administration to move funds from an account meant to provide maintenance to airports nationwide to avoid furloughs of air traffic controllers that would have delayed flights. Similar budgetary “gimmicks” were employed at the Agriculture Department to stave off furloughs of meat inspectors and by the Justice Department, which has already announced plans of 10 furlough days for FBI agents in 2014.

Every major federal agency reduced its furlough projections in fiscal 2013, though that will likely be impossible this year, the report found.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/management/2013/11/expect-sequestration-hit-much-harder-2014-report-says/74366

October 28, 2013 By AMK

DoD gears up for Round 2 of sequestration

Opponents of last year’s across-the-board spending cuts are hoping — perhaps quixotically — that sequestration’s second verse won’t be the same as its first.

Now that a bipartisan deal has ended the government shutdown, the resulting budget conference committee is the new best hope for turning off the cuts that have hit the Pentagon and defense industry hard and threaten to get even worse.

But even though the latest chapter in Washington gridlock is over, very little has actually changed.

“It’s important to note that Congress did not remove the shadow of uncertainty that has been cast over this department and our government much of this year,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday during a press briefing at the Pentagon.

“The damaging cuts of sequestration remain the law of the land,” he said. “In the months ahead, Congress will have an opportunity to remove this shadow of uncertainty as they work to craft a balanced, long-term spending bill.”

Hagel urged lawmakers to give the Defense Department and its vast workforce stability and predictability after the ringer they’ve been through, including sequestration furloughs over the summer and then shutdown furloughs more recently.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/dod-gears-up-for-round-2-of-sequestration-98577.html

October 21, 2013 By AMK

After the shutdown, uncertainty still plagues Pentagon

Now that the shutdown has ended, it’s business as usual again in Washington. At the Pentagon, that’s the problem. In a word: uncertainty.

“I know there are no guarantees in life, but we can’t continue to do this to our people, having them live under this cloud of uncertainty,” said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

Hagel said that the shutdown harmed everything for the Defense Department from training to the trust of key allies. But instead of waking up Thursday to a normal budget cycle, Pentagon planners instead are right back to where they started before the shutdown — under the budgetary thumb of sequester and continuing resolutions that temporarily fund the government weeks or months at a time.

Hagel said he is now worried about the morale of the military and its civilian workforce.

“Morale is a huge part of this,” Hagel said. “We won’t be able to recruit good people. Good people will leave the government. They’re not going to put up with this. Good people have many options.” Hagel said he is now worried about the morale of the military and its civilian workforce.

Bob Hale, Pentagon comptroller, was blunter as usual.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2013/10/after-shutdown-uncertainty-still-plagues-pentagon/72158.

Yes, we’re sick of government shutdowns, but alas, here we go again. Since the fundamental issues creating the gridlock are largely the same, let’s flash back to 2013, the last time the government did in fact shut down.

Congress has been criticized for kicking the can down the road when it comes to federal spending, but as the government shutdown clocks ticks closer to midnight — and agencies dust off their contingency plans — some are wondering if that kicked can might be the best option right now.

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