US Shutdown Cut In Half After Pentagon Recalls 400,000 Workers: Half Of All Furloughs

Image Source    Wikimedia.Org
by  Ingfbruno
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Zero Hedge

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/05/2013

It took just four days before the Federal government caved to Congress and admitted that it can't even operate in a partial, "non-essential" shutdown. A few short hours ago Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered 400,000 furloughed Pentagon civilian employees - or about half the total defense employees - back to work. it is also roughly half of the total employees furloughed since the start of the government shutdown, which is now in its fifth day, and since both the House and the Senate are now gone until Monday afternoon, it appears the shutdown, even if now at half mast will continue for at least a week.
Why did Hagel decide he can get bypass orders and tell government workers they can cut their vacation short? The Hill explains:

After consulting with the Justice Department and Department of Defense legal counsel, Hagel noted furloughed employees could be brought back to the Pentagon, while still complying with federal guidelines governing the shutdown, according to the memo.

Civilian workers at DOD shown to play a role in the "morale, well-being [and]...readiness" of U.S. forces could be brought back, under federal rules, Hagel wrote.

Pentagon Comptroller Bob Hale is scheduled to hold a briefing on the details of the recall later today.

The decision was prised by both sides of Congress, even as the political grandstanding and talking point reiterating continued:

Lawmakers praised the Pentagon's decision to put the department's civilian workforce back on the federal pay roll. "Congress fully intended for all of our civilian defense workers to be treated the same as our active duty military members," House Armed Services Committee member Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) said in a statement Saturday.

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