Lawmakers urge Pentagon to weigh alternatives to furloughs

The House majority leader said Wednesday that the Defense Department does not need to furlough federal employees in the midst of a budget showdown between Congress and the White House.

Steny Hoyer, D-Md., announced a host of military budgeting options that would delay the need for furloughs at Defense until at least late March, more than five weeks longer than the Pentagon claims is possible.

"Defense employees work hard every day to keep America safe and provide critical support to our soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world," Hoyer said. "President Bush should stop using these dedicated and valued workers as political pawns in an attempt to get Congress to write a blank check for Iraq."

Hoyer was joined at a news conference by Reps. Tom Davis, R-Va.; Jim Moran, D-Va.; John Sarbanes, D-Md.; and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.

The Pentagon has said money for Army operations will run out in mid-February and for the Marine Corps in March, even after a transfer of $4.1 billion from other accounts to sustain Army operations. On Nov. 15, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced plans to cease operations at Army bases by mid-February, which would result in furloughs of 100,000 civilians and another 100,000 contract personnel.

The department has further noted that, by law, federal employees must be notified of furloughs 60 days in advance -- meaning these notices would be delivered just before the holidays.

But lawmakers urged the department to delay issuing the furloughs until after the holidays and to exhaust every appropriate budgetary tool. They pointed to a report released Monday by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service that found that Defense could extend operations through late March, either by transferring money from cash balances to working capital funds or by slowing the pace at which the Army and Marine Corps are obligating funds.

Implementing such budget alternatives could result in an excess of $7.3 billion, delaying the need for furloughs from Feb. 23, 2008, to March 29, 2008, CRS estimated.

CRS further noted that the department could invoke the Civil War-era Feed and Forage Act, which would extend operations for an additional month. In the past 40 years, the law has been used to pay for unplanned contingencies and sustain military operations when supplemental appropriations have been delayed.

But CRS recommended that Congress avoid invoking the law, noting that doing so could create significant war power issues and introduce problems in negotiating contracts. "For Congress to recommend use of the Feed and Forage Act appears particularly ironic," the report said. "It is, in a sense, to write the script for the executive branch to evade legislative restrictions on the use of funds to carry on the war in Iraq."

Still, the lawmakers said they are fully committed to finding other alternatives that would avoid the need for furloughs. Moran said he has discussed with Hoyer and House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., the possibility of drafting legislation that would preclude furloughing.

"The budgeting tools to avoid a [furlough] are clear," Moran said. "Congress stands ready to work with the administration to prevent an unnecessary furlough."

Meanwhile, Davis and Sarbanes expressed particular concern with the long-term effects of implementing the furloughs, noting that they might deter many college graduates from considering careers in public service.

"This sends a terrible message to those in college who might consider government service," Davis said. "Furloughs should be a last resort, not plan A."