McConnell says Obama warns govt workers of sequester, but not private sector

By Ramsey Cox - 08/01/12 10:18 AM ET

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said President Obama has warned government workers about possible job losses from the sequester, but is not warning private sector workers.

“The Obama administration’s Office of Management and Budget issued guidance of its own to departments and agencies telling folks that they should prepare for cuts,” McConnell said on the floor. “So let’s get this straight: Government workers should prepare for cuts, but private businesses and their employees shouldn’t?”

On Tuesday, McConnell spoke about a letter the administration sent out to private-sector employers this week issuing guidance that said companies did not need to issue the layoff warnings because it is unclear whether sequestration will go forward, or how it would be implemented.

Defense firms have warned they could issue thousands of layoff notices in November, just before the election. Lockheed Martin and other firms have pointed to a federal law requiring companies with more than 100 employees to alert workers that they may be laid off when there is a foreseeable event that would lead to the layoffs. The likely event in this case is sequestration, which requires $500 billion in cuts to the Pentagon budget to begin next year.

“Government workers should prepare for cuts but private businesses and employers shouldn’t,” McConnell said. “Not a week goes by without us seeing the president’s absolute contempt for the private sector.”

Both the Senate and the House passed a bill last week requesting that the president outline the defense cuts that would be required by sequestration that takes place in January, but McConnell complained they have received no answers yet.

“Congress actually had to pass a law forcing [Obama] to explain these cuts,” McConnell said. “And he hasn’t signed that bill yet.”

McConnell said it’s unfair of Obama to ask the private sector not to notify their workers that they might be laid off just because it would help his reelection campaign in November. He questioned why private-sector workers “don’t even deserve to know if your job is on the chopping block?”

“The fact that they’re voting in swing states is no reason to leave them wondering,” McConnell said.