CBP Postpones Furloughs, Says New Funding May Alleviate Sequestration's Impact on Operations
With the addition of new funding for CBP by the recent continuing resolution's budget for the rest of FY 2013, CBP is holding off on furloughs and deauthorization of some overtime for its employees, said an agency spokesman: “In light of the Fiscal Year 2013 Appropriations bill and sequestration impacts, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is re-evaluating previously planned furloughs and de-authorization of Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUO) and will postpone implementation of both at this time."
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CBP is reviewing its options following the March 27 funding bill's addition of some money to the agency's budget beyond what was expected following the mandatory budget cuts of sequestration, the spokesman said. The implementation of sequestration cuts had initially spurred dire warnings from the agency: CBP in early March estimated delays up to several hours at land border crossings, and an additional five days added to cargo inspections at ocean ports of entry (see 13030416).
But the continuing resolution added $215 million to the CBP budget over FY2012 levels (see 13032706). The bill's provisions may lessen sequestration's negative effects, the spokesman said: "although the budget reductions imposed by sequestration are significant, the bill’s provisions allow CBP to mitigate to some degree the impacts of the reduced budget on operations and on CBP’s workforce. CBP continues to assess the exact impact the legislation will have on our operations and our workforce,” he said. According to the National Treasury Employees Union, CBP has asked the Office of Management and Budget to weigh in (see 13040114).