Under current sequestration law, military pay, personnel and programs, as well as war-related accounts, cannot be cut, and no bases can be closed. But unless Congress acts to give the Pentagon what’s called reprogramming authority, military leaders will not be able to target their trims.
As it now stands, everything else, across the board, must be cut by the same percentage. Under the amended law that delayed sequestration to March 1, all defense accounts must be cut by an equal 8.8 percent, according to Todd Harrison, a military budget expert with the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Analysis in Washington.
Civilian jobs and salaries are not protected. Since the Pentagon has said it will not use a reduction in force program, military civilians will have to be furloughed – “virtually every DoD civilian employee for the maximum amount allowed, which is 22 working days ... basically a month,” Harrison said.