Panetta: Pentagon Will Furlough Entire Civilian Workforce

Kept thumbs where the sun don't shine throughout run up to sequester

Deep automatic spending cuts scheduled to take effect on March 1 will greatly affect the Pentagon's civilian workforce, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Wednesday.

Appearing at a briefing with Pentagon Chief Financial Officer Robert Hale, Panetta said that virtually all of the department's 800,000 civilian employees will be furloughed starting in late April if sequester goes through in just over a week.