Reps. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) have proposed an amendment to the fiscal year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act that Kilmer said should address the legaility of furloughing defense employees, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday.
Jack Moore writes the suggested changes to the defense budget bill were filed on Monday for consideration by the House Rules Committee and the larger House later this week.
Kilmer said in a statement that the furloughs “do not and will not†solve the budget deficit and added, “Sending these workers home without pay just means needlessly delaying projects that have already been funded.â€
“I have continually raised concerns about the legal justification the department has used when furloughing these workers,” Kilmer said.
The proposed House measure pre-emptively blocks furloughs of employees in agencies that operate under working capital funds, meaning they do not receive direct budget allocations from Congress.
Moore also cited bill co-sponsor Cole, who said in a statement that the services these employees provide “are already fully funded apart from the appropriations process.”
“In fact, imposing furloughs actually hurts our economic recovery.”
