Pentagon begins furloughs for 650,000 civilians: Heavy US government spending cuts took a sharp swing on Monday as the Pentagon began putting about 650,000 civilian workers on unpaid leave.
The Department of Defense's civilian employees face furloughs of up to 11 days through the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
The furloughs will slash their paychecks by 20 percent at a time when the US economy is crawling at a modest pace four years after the Great Recession ended.
The pay pinch was expected to have the most immediate impact in areas with a large military presence, such as greater Washington DC, California and Texas.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced the furloughs in May as part of the $37 billion cut from the Pentagon's budget under the federal government's broad spending reduction, or sequestration, that took effect on March 1.
The defense budget took the biggest hit under the $85 billion in cuts through the current fiscal year, a drastic program implemented after political parties failed to reach a compromise over longer-term deficit reduction.
The sequestration lowers government spending by five percent, and Pentagon spending by about eight percent.
