A new report says federal budget cuts from sequestration will be much worse next year.
Government Executive breaks down the report from the Center for American Progress, which says the tactics government agencies used to mitigate the effects from sequestration in 2013 are mostly no longer available.
For example, Congress allowed the Federal Aviation Administration to move funds from an account meant to provide maintenance to airports nationwide to avoid furloughs of air traffic controllers that would have delayed flights. Similar budgetary “gimmicks” were employed at the Agriculture Department to stave off furloughs of meat inspectors and by the Justice Department, which has already announced plans of 10 furlough days for FBI agents in 2014.
Every major federal agency reduced its furlough projections in fiscal 2013, though that will likely be impossible this year, the report found.
“In some cases, agencies minimized their sequester cuts using budget gimmicks, but those gimmicks only work once,” wrote Harry Stein, CAP’s associate director for fiscal policy. “In other cases, agencies drained their reserve and investment accounts to sustain urgent needs, but those accounts need to be replenished later.”
