Federal Workforce Standing on Precipice as Administration Report Outlines "Devastating" Sequestration Cuts

(National Federation of Federal Employees)

“Devastating impact.” “Threat.” “Destructive.”

These are the words the Obama White House chose to describe the $1.2 trillion in impending sequestration cuts in a recent report detailing the automatic reductions.

The report, issued Friday as required by the recently-approved Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, contained the most detail yet on just how substantial the budget reductions will be. Without a solution before January 2nd, 2013, these cuts will become a grim reality for an already resource-strapped federal workforce.

The numbers tell the whole story: non-exempt discretionary defense programs will be cut by 9.4% while non-exempt non-defense discretionary programs (all other agencies) will see cuts of 8.2%. These cuts are across the board, meaning they will impact nearly every single agency in government, including every agency where NFFE represents employees.

“The results of these cuts would be exactly as the Administration described: devastating,” said NFFE National President William R. Dougan. “Lower agency budgets means fewer resources to hire new employees and maintain existing ones; it means fewer and lower quality services for the taxpayer; it means fewer resources flowing to communities across America who rely on federal jobs as key contributors to their economies. Sequestration is a lose-lose in every way imaginable.”

We cannot allow this to be our future. If we make our voices heard loud and clear, there is still time to come to a responsible solution to the sequestration problem. We are urging all federal employees to call their members of Congress (on your own time, using your own phone) and ask that they come to a reasonable compromise that protects federal workers and the services they deliver to the American people.

You can reach your elected officials by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard, located below.

(202) 224-3121