Agencies won't immediately enact furloughs if Congress fails to prevent the across-the-board budget cuts scheduled to begin in the new year, according to an email the White House sent to government officials and union leaders this morning.

The Office of Management and Budget sent the mass email as President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) continue negotiations to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, a combination of tax hikes and budget cuts that will automatically occur next year. That includes so-called sequestration, which would slash the budgets of programs and services by more than 8 percent.

Until now, OMB and agencies have been tight-lipped on what would happen if sequestration took effect. Today's email indicates that agencies would continue normal day-to-day operations initially, in the belief that a deal would be reached before they ran out of money.

"Sequestration was never intended to be implemented, and there is no reason why both sides should not be able to come together and prevent this scenario," OMB Controller Danny Werfel wrote in the email, obtained by Greenwire. "Nevertheless, with only a couple of weeks left before sequestration could occur should a deal not be reached, it is important to clarify the potential implications."

Agencies would not take any personnel actions, such as furloughs, immediately, Werfel wrote. But that could change the longer Congress fails to act.

"Should we have to operate under reduced funding levels for an extended period of time, we may have to consider furloughs or other actions in the future," he wrote. "But let me assure you that we will carefully examine other options to reduce costs within the agency before taking such action, taking into consideration our obligation to execute our core mission."

Werfel also emphasized that sequestration was not the same as a government shutdown. In the latter case, agencies must immediately implement furloughs because of a lapse in appropriations. But sequestration is instead a cut to the annual budget; agencies still have congressionally approved budgets.

Last month, the watchdog group OMB Watch released a report outlining the discretion agencies have to shift funding and avoid initial furloughs. The White House, the report found, has "substantial power to mitigate sequestration" through administrative tools such as apportionment and reprogramming (Greenwire, Nov. 5).

In other words, they can front-load spending in the expectation that Congress will act before they are forced to make deep cuts.

That appears to be the tactic outlined in Werfel's email.

"These cuts, while significant and harmful to our collective mission as an agency, would not necessarily require immediate reductions in spending," he wrote. "Under sequestration, we would still have funds available after January 2, but our overall funding for the remainder of the year would be reduced."

If cuts are eventually necessary, Werfel wrote, agencies will provide employees with advance notice on furloughs or other personnel actions.