Bush Threatens Congress with 100K Christmas Furloughs

Written by: Michael Kuykendall on Nov 20, 2007 2:16 PM EST

The White House ups the ante in its Iraq War funding fight with Congress by notifying 100,000 civilian employees of a possible furlough just in time for Christmas.

Upping the ante in the Iraq funding stalemate with Congress, the White House announced furloughs for 100,000 civilians employees just in time for Christmas. From the Swamp;

 

Merry Christmas from Washington: With Congress balking at continued war funding, the White House says the Defense Department will issue furlough notices to about 100,000 civilian workers at military bases in mid-December.

The threat of notices is the White House’s way of reminding Congress that it must authorize continued funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The House has voted to tie $50 billion in continued funding to a timeline for troop withdrawals, but that measure has been shelved in the Senate. The White House is calling on Congress to approve a spending bill before year’s end. If funding isn’t provided, the Defense Department says, the stall will have a “profoundly’’ burdensome impact on its operations.

“Before you furlough anyone, you have to provide notice,’’ White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said this morning. “If Congress provides the full funding, then the Department of Defense will not have to take the step’’ of furlough notices. They will have to be issued in mid-December, she said.

Perino also acknowledges that this was a warning shot across the bow of Congress – “that’s exactly what that was.’’

“It is not us who is making any civilians suffer,’’ she said. “We are calling on Congress.’’

 

This blatant attempt to use Christmas furloughs as leverage in the funding feud with Congress is despicable. Hopefully some second-opinion accounting will reveal how cruel this move truly is, after all, according to the Chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Committee John Murtha (emphasis mine in this article concerning Gen. Mieg from the Pentagon's counter-IED organization);

 

Meigs also said that the standoff between the Congress and President Bush over the White House's request for war funding is going to cripple his organization's ability to pay for new counter-IED projects, if it continues into next year.

But Democrats say this isn't necessarily true. Rep. John Murtha, chairman of the House Defense appropriations subcommittee, said Congress included $120 million for the task force in the military's 2008 annual budget and the military can borrow against the rest of the $471 billion that was approved. So far, the Pentagon has not asked to tranfer any money, he said.

 

UPDATE: How will Dems respond? From the AP;

 

And Reps. David Obey and John Murtha said they won't bite. Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and Murtha, D-Pa., head of the panel's Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, said they won't support more money for the war this year unless President Bush accepts a timetable for troop withdrawals.

Last week, the House passed a $50 billion bill that would keep operations afloat for several more months, but sets a goal of bringing most troops home by December 2008. After Bush threatened to veto the measure, Senate Republicans blocked it.

"If the president wants that $50 billion released, all he has to do is to call the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, and ask him to stop blocking it," Obey told reporters.

Obey and Murtha convened the rare recess-week news conference to counter Pentagon reports that the military will have to take drastic steps next month if it doesn't get the money soon.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday signed a memo ordering the Army to begin planning for a series of expected cutbacks, including the layoffs of as many as 100,000 civilian employees and another 100,000 civilian contractors, starting as early as January.

Obey and Murtha said they calculate the military has enough money to continue operations through March by eating into its $471 billion annual budget.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the military has only limited transfer authority.

"Those who think we have some sort of flexibility here are simply misinformed," Whitman told reporters on Tuesday. "We've entered into a very serious period here."

Murtha said the Pentagon was issuing "irresponsible" propaganda.

 

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