The lines geographically. Here are the numbers we want to hear from federal employees only in and outside of washington d. C. , your take on sequester. Also send us a tweet, twitter. Com cspanwj. This morning, here is the New York Post with the breakdown of what this administration is warning on sequester and the impact on federal employees. Scare tactics, being 85 billion in sequester cuts would be bought by consumers, home buyers, and even some taxpayers filing paper returns. There is a breakdown of the federal employees that are impacted inside of washington and outside across the country. We want to hear from them only this morning to get their take on sequestration. Lets go to sandra in georgia, what do you do . Caller good morning. I work for the department of defense. This is huge for me. Specifically i work in the office of soldiers council. We represent soldiers that the army is looking to put out of the military. This is a monumental for me. I am proud of federal worker. We worked extremely hard. My dismay is that you have some folks in washington that are putting out these on for statements that federal workers are lazy, overpaid. We have not had a raise in two years. We all sacrificed tremendously. It is unconscionable to me that folks in washington cannot get this thing solved. It is a darn shame. There is an undercurrent of folks that will not be happy until a hardworking folks are down to eating kibbles n bits. Host who is telling you in your agency about sequester . What are they telling you specifically that may impact you personally . Caller we get memorandum that are coming down from the undersecretary of the army. That is mr. Ashton carter. He sent out a couple of memos. Up until this point, it has been the same dialogue, we do not know anything, which i do not understand. I think folks do know what they are going to do. Our understanding is that agencies have the discretion to determine who will be exempt. In other words, agencies are going to be sending out information to say, these folks should be exempt, but my understanding is that it will come from the high levels, probably the secretary of the army, to make the determination about will be exempt. Until i see it in writing, i do not tend to believe it that my position is exempt. Right now, i am making steps to get out of dod. I try to get to another agency that by law is not part of the sequester. Host do you think that you might be furloughed . Tallest how that might work. Tell us how that might work. Caller i think i might be. They are telling us, one day a week, about 22 days of reduced pay. I have not even done the math. Im afraid to do the math. Im fortunate that i have just myself to support. There are other people at much lower grades and people trying to support families and keep households running. There are a lot of folks that do not make the money that people think they make. They are fortunate they have a job, but we have folks those people need their money. Host 4 thus for those outside of washington, can you explain the grades . Caller i am a nine. That is fairly solid money in this region. When i go to the Washington Area, that would be increased because of the cost of living. It costs more to live in washington. The lower the grade, typically the less money and make. It is also based on geographic spread geographics. A three in georgia makes less than a 3 in washington. Cola is based on cost of living. The pay cuts that im talking about, we have not had a raise in two years. Host how high does the grading in kodaks grading go . Caller it goes up until 10. The next level would be 11 for me. Host how long have you been working for the federal government . Caller since march 2008. Five years this coming march. I love working for the government. That is why i left the private sector because i like the idea of working, being a public servant, as opposed to working in the corporate sector, which is driven by profits. Very different. To sandra, talking off a federal employee in georgia. Were waiting for more employees to call in. Were talking to federal employees only. We have divided the lines geographically. We want to hear from you, inside washington, outside of washington. Sandra is from florida from georgia. The sequester, is that all that is the talk in your office . Caller i have friends in other agencies, this is a hot topic. This is going to impact us, all of us. Host is that youre getting your news, through twitter . Caller no, not through twitter. I am a news junkie. I get mind from cspan, the most unbiased source out there. I can remember my parents watching cspan. I hated it. Im like, what are they watching . Now im like, oh god, im turning into my parents. They used to have it on every morning. That was in the days of brian lamb. I appreciate you guys. Host i want to hear from federal employes only this morning. Give us your take on what is happening with your job, your agency, mitch in south carolina, go ahead. Caller i am a gs 12, step 8. I am a Civil Engineer working for the air force. Host what have you heard . Caller about the same as the lady that was just talking. I come in every morning, and you hear people in the break room talking about that. I have not seen any emails, but i believe my boss may have some emails. In our weekly meetings, they are saying, hold on. Host do you think for job is safe . Caller i think. Think so. I honestly believe we should do the sequestration. I worked for the government for eight years now. I see a lot of waste. I think we are over what is the word we have too many people here to do the work that we have. Host have you heard that the most redundant positions, those lowerlevel employees, that those are the ones that would be furloughed or subject to a hiring freeze . Caller no, i think that would go across the board. It would hit everybody, going from a lower levels to the higher levels. I would be one of the higher ones. Really, if it happens, so be it. I will be taking a vacation. Host one day a week . Caller that is what i hear, how that would start. Host you are a Civil Engineer for the army in south carolina. Is there an army base there . Caller there is an air force base here. I work on the old naval weapons station. It is kind of it is not right on the air force base, but it is close to it. Host can you explain that a little bit . Caller i am in the Public Works Office at the base. I deal with mortar and a sore issues sewer issues, waiting for contracts to redo some were lines that have been in place since the 1940s. Host thank you, mitch. The Baltimore Sun has this on its front page the Baltimore Sun reporting that checks will go out, but if you have a claim or you need to get on the farm with the Social Security worker, there could be delays. We will take phone calls from a federal employees only this morning, getting your take on sequester. First, neild joins us, a staff writer for a roll call. We just heard from two federal employees about what they are hearing. Tell everybody that is watching, is anybody talking to each other in washington . Guest it is good to be with you. It sure does not sound like it. I have been listening in on the phone to the previous two callers who are federal employes, both working at military installations, and you know, they may not be pleased to hear, nor will most of your audience, but at this moment, the senate is gearing up in the next couple of days to have a couple of competing test votes on sequesterrelated legislation. One proposal is from democrats, one proposal from republicans, but we are hearing that neither one of those proposals has any chance of passing relief. Passing really. There is not met much action from the house of representatives at this juncture. Host neils, there is report in the house gop is drafting a plan to give president obama disk discretion on these cuts. Guest right, we have heard the same from senate republicans. The argument from republicans, with this discretion matter, which has been floating around over the last week or two, is to say that the administration has been saying that the way the law was worded to set up a sequestration, they have a very limited flexibility in how they can implement it. They have to take furloughs in lots of places that would seem to be mission critical. Secretary lahood is talking about shutting down air Traffic Control towers at smaller airports there will be long waits at psa at tsa with fewer screeners. What republicans in both chambers are trying to do is perhaps come up with some way to be able to give the administration more flexibility, which is also perhaps politically useful, because there is this whole notion of firing first, where they put cuts in affect and tout cuts in places where people will feel them. There was some reporting last night about people in Immigration Detention Centers perhaps being let out because there are not enough people from the Immigration Service to be able to keep them there. What the republican plan would attempt to, though the white house were feuds that it would be actually useful, is to prevent that sort of refutes that it would be useful, is to prevent that having to happen in areas that make that make it an obvious problem. Host here is a tweet from one of our viewers who is asking how would sequester Impact Capitol hill . Guest well, there is an interesting link to that. We had this debate a couple of weeks ago. It recurs every once in awhile, about congressional pay. Also the pay of the president. There is a law it would be unconstitutional to change, to alter the pay of members of congress, and less on election has intervened. The expectation is that the furloughs would not apply to members of congress. Certainly, we are looking at, whether it is furloughs are budget cuts or all sorts of service cutbacks, the internal operations in congress would be altered, and folks in legislative branches and ages agencies, like the library of congress and other support offices all around the capital, are bracing for what the effect might be on them. It even affects things perhaps like doorkeepers and other support personnel. There are also questions on capitol hill, like everywhere else, about how it will affect contracts. Do you services that are provided to the capital that provided in the same way . These are questions we do not know the answer to. There has been some reporting in some detail about that. Just like everywhere else, as the two colors on a just before me callers on just before me, there is a lot of uncertainty about how this will be implemented starting on friday. Host thank you for your time this morning. As neils was talking about, three days to go until these forced spending cuts going to effected march 1 is the deadline. The Baltimore Sun that light have line headline president obama will travel to newport news, virginia today. We will have coverage at c span. Org. He will push for his proposal to avert the automatic spending cuts. Were speaking to federal employees. Ryan is in virginia, just over the bridge. You work with the cia. What are you hearing . Caller i do not work for the cia. Im sorry. I work for the dia. There is a generation of members of the Intelligence Community that have been brought for developmental programs. Right now, i have been hit with the agency for about three years. At the same time, they are bringing well educated, very smart young people into the community, try to change the Old Boys Club that once was, into the force that we absolutely need to take on the information we are able to collect worldwide. Unfortunately, all of these people are paid as one of your previous callers mentioned at a relatively low level. This amounts to less than 40,000 a year, but just prior just prior to the cost of living adjustment. Living in the alexandria area, you have to deal with extremely high costs, transportation, as well as apartment living. That is a 20 pay cut to any one of these analysts. It is a terrifying prospect. Host you work for the director of intelligence or the Defense Intelligence agency . And that is part of the pentagon . Caller the Defense Intelligence agency, we are under the dod. Host what are you hearing about your job . Caller because i am a civilian, im liable to be placed on furlough at least one day a week, potentially 22 days until the end of the fiscal year. Unfortunately, paying my half of the rent with a roommate at 1,200 a month prior to facilities, im going to have many difficulties with living with another analyst, just trying to afford our rent, as well as part of any food or any other expenses. Host could you have taken a job in the private sector and made more . Caller absolutely. I got a College Degree try to join the intelligence agency, because i intended to serve this country. I do not wear a uniform, but i go to work every day for the defense of this nation. Host steve, from maryland, part of the energy department. Caller i am a fairly senior person. I understand the plight of folks at lower levels. The point is i have been working for the federal government for about 32 years. I would have been fired in the first or second. If i did what the congress is doing. They do not do their basic job, which is to make a budget. Make a decision. That is what is missing. Host steve caller they are going about it in the worst possible way. Host do you see waste where you work . Caller of course, i see waste everywhere. That is the job of the congress. In coordination with the administration, they should identify programs which are wasteful. I have three tenants who have been on section 8 for the last 20 years. Why should you continue to help people for 20 years . Put them on help for five years. Not forever. Host were talking to federal employees only. Just as in silver spring. Where do you work . Caller i am under noaa. I am a senior staffer. I have been in natural wild Natural Resources management. All the resource agencies of the federal level, ive worked for 10 years, i worked for the park service, i worked for the fish and wildlife we have been seeing cuts since basically the Clinton Administration. I have not seen programs growing. The talk about government waste, i do not get it, because in the Natural Resources management agency, there is none. Were all struggling to provide services to the public. From the worker level and entry level jobs all the way up to management, i do not see a period see it. It makes me angry when people talk about government waste because we are about trying to provide services to the public. Maybe other agencies that do not work with Natural Resources have a lot more waste, but we sure do not. Host if you are furloughed and others are, what is the impact . What will they feel . Caller i do not know. I can only speak for myself and the folks i work with. Host will americans outside of your agency, the people who rely on you, will they feel the impact of sequester from furloughs from your office . Caller it is hard to say because our sister agency, the weather service, you all, every Single Person in the United States and the whole planet, debts of the reports from noaa data. The weather is pretty important thing for everybody is a daily routine. Planning anything, most People Factor the weather in. Host andre, a Naval Intelligence officer. Good morning. Caller similar to steve, i am relatively high ranking gs15 inside the government. What is frustrating when looking at the lack of cop cooperation between congress, number one, we are mandated as we square our oath of office to cooperate throughout. There are always great to be policy restrictions that prevent that. At the end of the day, we ask civil servants, it is expected of us to cooperate on behalf of the taxpayers, who ultimately pay our salaries when we see our congressional oversight pay our salaries. When we see our congressional oversight not cooperating, it is frustrating. The moral argument is being put forth as if United States market economy operates as if our household as our household economies operate. When you see arguments that children, they will have 85,000 worth of debt, if you monetize that back to when we were born, that number might have been and 10,000, for instance. What to do not see is anybody knocking at our door, asking us to pay that dollar value that dollar some value. It does not really work. We do not have a Credit Card Company is sending us a bill every month. Host who do you blame, congress, the administration, or both . Caller i think it is everybodys willing to bear, including us, the citizenry. At the end of the day, they represent us. We speak through our elections. They interpret what we say. That manifests itself in policy doctrine. If this comes to fruition, everybody is to blame. This is the truest instance of a scenario where elections have consequences. Host were taking phone calls from federal employees inside and outside of washington, d. C. Let me throw this into the conversation, a letter from senator tom coburn. He sent it to omb, outlining several positions that are being solicited from the federal government for jobs. He says you can find this letter on our web site. Tonko burnt lists the jobs tom coburn lists the jobs. He has several in his letter to omb. Were talking to federal employees only. We will keep taking your phone calls. First, let me give you some other headlines. Your is a New York Times albany all the newspapers reporting how he took on that role, more of a public role. He issued an pack warnings about the dangers of smoking, and he pushed the government into taking an aggressive stance against aids. Despite his opposition to abortion, refused to use his office as a pulpit from which to preach. The wall street journal has a frontpage piece about immigration and the dilemma republicans base, particularly when the gramm who is running for reelection in 2014. They note that senator gramm, senator john mccain will meet with the president today to talk about immigration reform. The front page of the New York Times, republicans signing a brief in support of gay marriage. 75 people have signed an amicus brief, a friend