White House staff hit by furloughs

USA/

Roughly six weeks after the sequestration budget cuts became official, White House employees are about to feel the impact first-hand.

The entire White House staff will be hit by the cuts in the coming months, beginning with the first pay period in May.

Four of the 11 divisions of the Executive Office of the President (EOP) - including the White House, the vice president's office and the budget office - have issued furlough notices to their employees, said a White House aide who asked not to be named.

The various divisions of the executive office have been handling their cuts independently from each other. While it is unclear how many days will be lost by which division, employees in the EOP components are expected to have between three and 10 days of furloughs over three to seven months.

"All of this means that every EOP employee is dealing with the consequences both in their own lives and in their ability to do their job," the aide said.

The White House confirmed in early April that 480 employees of the Office of Management and Budget would be furloughed as a result of the sequestration.

The $85 billion in across-the-board budget cuts were initially designed to be so severe that Republicans and Democrats would be forced to come together and find an agreement to avert them.