Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has told military departments and acquisition personnel to operate under current policy without assuming sequestration cuts will occur, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg.
According to Tony Capaccio’s report, Carter wrote the Pentagon leadership team does not want personnel, programs and activities to feel the effects of sequestration before the cuts are scheduled to kick in Jan. 2/.../
Todd Harrison, a defense budget analyst for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, told Bloomberg the memo aligns with the Pentagon’s assumption that sequestration will not happen.
Harrison added if sequestration occurs, the Pentagon would have nine months to cut a whole fiscal year’s worth of funds, which he believes could lead to furloughs of civilian employees.