Furloughs Still Loom at FCC If Sequester Continues Into the Summer
Furloughs remain on the table at the FCC, though the agency’s Managing Director David Robbins is trying to avoid staff cuts, FCC officials told us as briefings continue at the agency. For FY 2013, the sequester would mean trimming the $341.9 million budget by about 5 percent, or $17 million, to $324.8 million. Questions about the sequester are expected to come up at the March 12 FCC oversight hearing by the Senate Commerce Committee, officials said.
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Robbins plans to cut other areas first -- paring back cash awards to career employees, overtime, travel and supplies, officials said. That also likely means postponing upgrades and replacement of equipment like the FCC vans that check for pirate radio stations and monitor spectrum. Part of the problem is that 72 percent of the budget covers personnel costs, salaries and benefits. The FCC may be able to avoid furloughs in part through attrition as some staff members retire or otherwise leave the agency, officials said.
"I didn’t get the sense that there’s anything dire imminently planned,” one agency official said. A second FCC official said Wednesday Robbins has been clear the agency will try to avoid furloughs by not replacing employees who leave. “If the sequester lasts for the rest of the fiscal year, I think that it would be tough to completely avoid furloughs,” the official said.
A Washington lawyer who’s tracking the sequester said Robbins is proposing the kinds of cuts that had been expected -- to incidentals, equipment and recurring costs before personnel cuts. “Depending on their rate of spend in the current fiscal year, they can probably go for at most a few months without cutting into personnel -- contractors or employees -- but you can’t go for very long,” the lawyer said.
Commissioner Robert McDowell told us Wednesday he’s not unduly worried about the cuts since 95 percent of the FCC’s budget remains intact. “The FCC will be able to carry on with its core mission without missing a step,” he said. “We should be looking to cut niceties but not necessities.”
Meanwhile, amid federal closures Wednesday due to inclement weather, the House voted 267-151 to pass a government-wide appropriations bill (HR-933) that would fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year. The bill does not attempt to significantly reduce the impact of the $85 billion in across-the-board cuts affecting federal agencies this year.
Also Wednesday, an FTC spokesman said that agency has “made strategic decisions over the last couple of years” positioning the agency to avoid sequestration-related cuts. “Specifically, the agency’s effort to reshape its workforce through voluntary early outs and buyouts has had the effect of slowing hiring, and along with other agency actions, has helped the FTC to be able to absorb these reductions,” the spokesman said. “As a result, the FTC anticipates that it will be able to operate without significant impact to its mission to preserve competition and protect American consumers and without the need to furlough its employees. It is also carefully scrutinizing discretionary spending such as travel, employee awards, and training, and is thoroughly reviewing all proposed hiring actions.”