Thinkstock
Key dates for the furlough-wary: A timeline
As budget battles continue, here are a few critical deadlines that could affect your job and pay.
Sequester. Furloughs. Government shutdown. Debt default. These terms are very much on federal employees’ minds, based on reader comments on stories and the results of a recent Government Executive poll. Nearly 70 percent of more than 4,000 respondents to the Jan. 24 poll said they thought the across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration would lead to furloughs at their agency.
But, specific information about the threat appeared to be lacking, with more than three-quarters of respondents noting their agency had not officially explained sequestration to them. And with Congress frequently shifting the goal posts and postponing action on budget and fiscal matters for a few months at a time, it can be hard to sort out when various threats could become a reality and start to affect your pay check or job security.
Our timeline lays out a few critical deadlines you might want to watch. We will update it as dates continue to shift.