The
first year of automatic, across-the-board budget cuts didn't live up to the
dire predictions from the Obama administration and others who warned of
sweeping furloughs and big disruptions of government services. The second round
just might.
Several
federal agencies found lots of loose change that helped them through the
automatic cuts in the 2013 budget year, allowing them to minimize furloughs and
maintain many services. Most of that money, however, has been spent.
The
Pentagon used more than $5 billion in unspent money from previous years to ease
its $39 billion budget cut. Furloughs originally scheduled for 11 days were cut
back to six days.
The
Justice Department found more than $500 million in similar money that allowed
agencies like the FBI to avoid furloughs altogether.
