Witnesses testified on the Defense Department’s civilian and contractor personnel as a result of impending budget cuts due to sequestration. Proposed cuts to the Defense budget from sequestration and the Senate would likely cost nearly 128,000 civilian jobs, possibly higher. Topics included importance of the military on the job market, trimming noncritical operations, and the retention and importance of civilian military workers.
Sequestration refers to across-the-board budget cuts mandated as part of the 2011 debt ceiling agreement, and were scheduled for January 2013 unless Congress passed $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction.