America is broke: military furloughs

White House publishes shutdown plans

The Washington Post estimates as many as 600,000 federal employees could be furloughed if Congress fails to act on the spending bills. The departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Justice and Transportation, along with a handful of independent agencies, would not be affected because they have already secured appropriations for all of fiscal 2012.

Below is our initial tally of employees who could be furloughed, by agency, based on the plans published by OMB. We will update it as we get more information. Defense: Military personnel are not subjected to furlough. The minimum number of civilian employees will be exempt from furlough, but no numbers are provided in the plan. Contractors will continue, but new contracts will not be executed.

Military furloughs are being discussed, active duty soldiers have been told they could be furloughed.