The Defense Department may not have enough funds to run its Tricare program if it has to cut $46 billion from its fiscal year 2013 budget, according to Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
According to Bloomberg, Carter said in prepared testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee that nearly every budget category would be impacted by the sequestration cuts if they take effect March 1.
Tony Capaccio writes the Pentagon is restricted at fiscal 2012 spending levels under a continuing resolution that funds the government through March 27.
Carter also addressed the possibility of furloughs in his prepared remarks, saying the military branches would furlough most of the Pentagon’s 800,000 civilian workers one day per week, according to the report.
He estimated the furloughs would result in a 20 percent pay cut that would save up to $5 billion, Capaccio reports.
