Posted on 10/05/2013 11:25:04 AM PDT by Innovative
The Pentagon is ordering most of its approximately 400,000 furloughed civilian employees back to work.
The decision by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is based on a Pentagon legal interpretation of a law called the Pay Our Military Act.
That measure was passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama shortly before the partial government shutdown began Tuesday.
The law ensured that members of the military, who have remained at work throughout the shutdown, would be paid on time. It also left room for the Pentagon to keep on the job those civilians who provide support to the military.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Please note that the breaking news was originally posted by don-o, but was removed from news by the AM, because there was no source available on the internet at the time (it was mentioned on TV and apparently Twitter).
BREAKING: Pentagon ordering most of its furloughed civilian employees back to work.
AP via Twitter | October 5, 2013
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3075313/posts
So then the SecDef can overrule the House of Representatives.
I actually asked the mod to move it off the sidebar when a thread with source in header was posted.
Not saying it would not have been done anyway - it’s the right thing to do.
The House bill was purposely (I’m assuming) worded very loosely so as to allow this interpretation.
Defense employees go back to work. IRS, EPA still on vacation.
Sad thing is all the drills are cancelled, and a lot of those are more important than the civilians they are bringing back.
They really should have put funding the Reserve Drills in the previous bill passed right before the shutdown. It won’t pass on its own.
I should say important than SOME of the civilians being brought back...not all.
I could certainly use my network engineer back.
This is a victory. The “all or nothing” Democrat strategy has failed!!
Some more info over here
http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/army/326789-pentagon-recalls-civilian-workforce
Willing to bet that in the coming week the Senate takes up some of the items the House passed last week.
House Approves Backpay for Furloughed Feds
(Federal News Radio ^ | Oct, 5 2013 | Jack Moore)
If they’re going to pay all federal employees regardless of furlough or not, then why not have all federal employees return to work?
Good for the DoD employees and good for mitigating Obamadoesn’tcare. Every agency reopened and every employee back at work erodes Obama’s position. The more he howls, the more the House needs to pass CRs to reopen departments or programs and keep appealing for him to negotiate.
Good for the DoD employees and good for mitigating Obamadoesn’tcare. Every agency reopened and every employee back at work erodes Obama’s position. The more he howls, the more the House needs to pass CRs to reopen departments or programs and keep appealing for him to negotiate.
This is BIG. This gives the good guys a lot more leverage.
>> based on a Pentagon legal interpretation [of a measure] passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama shortly before the partial government shutdown began Tuesday.
5 days too many. Time and circumstances no doubt shaped interpretation.
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