Here’s the latest proof that the White House has overdramatized the sequester: border patrol agents won’t be whacked with furloughs, the unpaid, extended holiday no one actually wants.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have been shaking in their boots after the federal government warned they — along with many other federal employees — would face furloughs and lose overtime. But now, it looks like the Obama administration raised border control agents’ blood pressure for no reason.
Border patrol agents aren’t the only federal employees hearing good news. The U.S. Department of Defense announced on Thursday that workers would only have to take off 14 days off in June, instead of 22 days.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. also announced on Thursday he was “postponing until mid-April any decision about the need to institute furloughs for DOJ [Department of Justice] employees.”
But despite the recent good news, the White House continues to cry wolf.
During a briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Jay Carney insisted the Obama administration did “absolutely not” sensationalize the sequester.
“Feel free to convey to your readers and viewers that the sequester doesn’t matter,” Carney said facetiously after a tête-à-tête with Fox News White House correspondent Ed Henry.
“There is no question that when you have these across-the-board budget cuts … the impacts are real and they affect real people,” Carney added.
Carney is right — the sequester does affect all the children who can no longer take field trips after the White House decided to cancel them.
