DOJ begins hiring freeze to avoid furloughs
The Justice Department is currently under a hiring freeze and managers have been advised to cut non-personnel spending, according to reports.
“While we do not yet know what actions will be taken to fund the Justice Department for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, 2011, there is a realistic prospect that the department will have to operate for the entire fiscal year at last year's levels. This presents significant budget challenges as the cost of our operations and staffing is considerably higher this year,” Holder wrote, according to ABC. The department asked for a 5.4 percent funding increase this year, in part to pay for 2,800 additional employees.
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Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered the Justice Department to start a hiring freeze and has asked the department's agencies to reduce non-personnel spending to help avoid furloughs, according to a report by ABC News.
In a memo to Justice employees obtained by ABC News, Holder describes “significant budget challenges” and said there is a “realistic prospect” that the department will have to operate for the entire 2011 fiscal year at the previous year’s levels.
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