Time for Two-Week Furloughs?

This legislative session is off to a roaring start when it comes to slashing the bureaucracy. We've already seen a proposal to cut the workforce by 10 percent and extend the federal pay freeze for a third year. Now comes a bill that would require all federal employees not working in the areas of defense, public health, homeland security or law enforcement to take unpaid two-week furloughs next year.

Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., who introduced the legislation, says numerous states have adopted similar measures. Meanwhile, he charges, "the federal government continues to grow and rack up debt," the Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe reports.

Before you say that members of Congress ought to look at their own pay and benefits, you should know that Coffman's bill also includes a provision that would trim salaries for lawmakers by 10 percent. And he noted that the House has already voted to cut members' office budgets by 5 percent.

Update 12:20 p.m.: American Federation of Government Employees President John Gage has a statement on the proposed legislation: "Requiring federal employees to take two weeks of unpaid leave would have a detrimental impact on the federal services and programs that millions of American taxpayers depend on each and every day. Even though this proposed legislation would exempt employees in positions involving national security, law enforcement and public health and safety, every federal employee is vital to the effective operation of our government. Federal employees take a public oath to faithfully carry out the jobs they are hired to perform, and forcing them to take leave without pay goes against this sworn obligation."