HSS…liar…..caught…..yet again….

THE FEDERAL EYE
How much money did Customs and Border Protection need to avoid furloughs?
By Josh Hicks,  Published: THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 6:00 AM ET
     

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Customs and Border Protection employees on Wednesday that they would not be furloughed this year, despite the agency’s initial estimate that its employees would have to take 14 days off because of the sequester.
Napolitano informed CBP employees that Congress approved a plan to mitigate the impact of the automatic spending cuts. ”Today, I am pleased to say that Congress has approved that plan, and we have eliminated the need to furlough CBP personnel for the remainder of the fiscal year,” she said.

We wanted to see the reprogramming plan to understand how much money DHS shifted between accounts to help avoid sequester furloughs. Neither CBP nor Homeland Security provided that information when asked for it on Wednesday.

Congressional staff from the House Appropriations Committee eventually sent the following Homeland Security document in response to the same query:

DHS reprogramming request

The document is a letter in which Homeland Security asks permission to transfer about $11 million to CBP’s account for salaries and expenses, using money from other spending categories such as the Office of Intelligence and Analysis and the agency’s border-security fencing appropriations.

The $11 million figure appears in a Washington Post article that went online Wednesday night. Homeland Security spokeswoman Marsha Catron later questioned the number, saying the department actually reprogrammed more than $100 million to avoid sequester-related furloughs.

In order to reach Catron’s figure, the agency would need to shift another $89 million on top of the $11 million that Congress just approved for reprogramming.

We’ve asked Homeland Security to provide a breakdown of the remaining $89 million it reprogrammed — apparently without needing Congressional approval — to avoid unpaid leave.

The question remains: From which accounts did the agency draw that funding? The Federal Eye will update this article if Homeland Security provides the requested information.

For more federal news, visit The Federal Eye, The Fed Page and Post Politics. To connect with Josh Hicks, follow his Twitter feed, friend his Facebook page or e-mail josh.hicks@washpost.com. E-mail federalworker@washpost.com with news tips and other suggestions.

COMMENTS
asmith1 wrote:
June 20, 2013 at 7:47 AM
because sequestration has nothing to do with funding cuts and everything to do with punishing

Every program that has escaped furloughs is either a program that directly affects congress or Obama. Even though National Guard can be trained and moved to the borders, there is a need to keep up appearances especially now that the Illegal Aliens Rewards & Jobs bill (aka: immigration reform) debates are exposing the ugly truth that our borders are no where near as secure as Napolitano would have us believe … and that does not make Obama or the Dems looks good
All Comments (1)
Add comment (coming soon)
MORE
Contact us
Privacy policy
My Account
Sign In
Subscribe
© Copyright 1996-2013 The Washington Post
View desktop site