Weapons Complex Monitor
January 16, 2013
OMB Directs Agencies To Intensify Planning For Possible Sequestration Cuts
The Department of Energy and other federal agencies have been directed to “intensify efforts” to prepare for the looming funding cuts known as sequestration. In a Jan. 14 memorandum, the White House Office of Management and Budget told federal agencies to continue their planning efforts in the event sequestration is implemented this spring, including taking such steps as identifying “the most appropriate means to reduce civilian workforce costs where necessary— this may include imposing hiring freezes, releasing temporary employees or not renewing term or contract hires, authorizing voluntary separation incentives and voluntary early retirements, or implementing administrative furloughs”; and reviewing “grants and contracts to determine where cost savings may be achieved In a manner that is consistent with the applicable terms and conditions.” The OMB memo states, “While agency plans should reflect intensified efforts to prepare for operations under a potential sequestration, actions that would implement reductions specifically designed as a response to sequestration should generally not be taken at this time. In some cases, however, the overall budgetary uncertainty and operational constraints may require that certain actions be taken in the immediate-or near-term.”
The sequestration process is set to involve a total of $1.2 trillion in funding cuts, equally divided between defense and non-defense funding, over 10 years unless similar deficit reduction legislation is approved. For DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, sequestration would entail a 9.4 percent cut for defense environmental cleanup funding and cuts of 8.2 percent to nondefense environmental cleanup funding and uranium enrichment D&D funding. For the National Nuclear Security Administration, the sequestration cuts would amount to 9.4 percent reductions to weapons and nonproliferation programs. Sequestration was to have gone into effect Jan. 2, but lawmakers approved a measure to push the cuts back until March. “The Administration continues to urge Congress to take prompt action to address the current budgetary uncertainty, including through the enactment of balanced deficit reduction to avoid sequestration,” the OMB memo says, adding, “Should Congress fail to act to avoid sequestration, there will be significant and harmful impacts on a wide variety of Government services and operations.”
January 16, 2013
OMB Directs Agencies To Intensify Planning For Possible Sequestration Cuts
The Department of Energy and other federal agencies have been directed to “intensify efforts” to prepare for the looming funding cuts known as sequestration. In a Jan. 14 memorandum, the White House Office of Management and Budget told federal agencies to continue their planning efforts in the event sequestration is implemented this spring, including taking such steps as identifying “the most appropriate means to reduce civilian workforce costs where necessary— this may include imposing hiring freezes, releasing temporary employees or not renewing term or contract hires, authorizing voluntary separation incentives and voluntary early retirements, or implementing administrative furloughs”; and reviewing “grants and contracts to determine where cost savings may be achieved In a manner that is consistent with the applicable terms and conditions.” The OMB memo states, “While agency plans should reflect intensified efforts to prepare for operations under a potential sequestration, actions that would implement reductions specifically designed as a response to sequestration should generally not be taken at this time. In some cases, however, the overall budgetary uncertainty and operational constraints may require that certain actions be taken in the immediate-or near-term.”
The sequestration process is set to involve a total of $1.2 trillion in funding cuts, equally divided between defense and non-defense funding, over 10 years unless similar deficit reduction legislation is approved. For DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, sequestration would entail a 9.4 percent cut for defense environmental cleanup funding and cuts of 8.2 percent to nondefense environmental cleanup funding and uranium enrichment D&D funding. For the National Nuclear Security Administration, the sequestration cuts would amount to 9.4 percent reductions to weapons and nonproliferation programs. Sequestration was to have gone into effect Jan. 2, but lawmakers approved a measure to push the cuts back until March. “The Administration continues to urge Congress to take prompt action to address the current budgetary uncertainty, including through the enactment of balanced deficit reduction to avoid sequestration,” the OMB memo says, adding, “Should Congress fail to act to avoid sequestration, there will be significant and harmful impacts on a wide variety of Government services and operations.”
Comments
A 10% reduction of a years budget at midyear is a real 20% reduction going forward. It takes 1-2 months to reduce those items (firing, furloughs, salary reductions) that can be done.
All planned work must stop as managers and employees plan how to accomplish this Congressional Moondance.
Waste - complete. Fraud - massive. Abuse - of their congressional responsibilities.
Who can compete with this?
The trend is for naive, young, highly educated staff to come into the labs for a few years as post docs at a low salary, be worked hard and told to struggle with less and less funding, and then for these same employees to leave in disgust after about 5 years.
It allows the managers to continue making their huge salaries while both benefits and salaries associated with the "worker-bees" is cut to a bare minimum.
And, believe me, that's exactly the way NNSA wants it! They place little value on hard won expertise and seasoned scientific capabilities. Only the phony LLC metrics and an occasional over-hyped scientific "discover" matter to these people.
January 22, 2013 at 1:47 PM
"Don't care about the law"?? So typical. Are you a Democrat? Thought so. Do you even know about the law? Thought not.
Nope, just smeone who knows how to reduce the labs population by 50% with screwing over its people and yet retain jobs for the young. Got a problem with that AH?
Nope, just smeone who knows how to reduce the labs population by 50% with screwing over its people and yet retain jobs for the young. Got a problem with that AH?