FILE - This Nov. 16, 2012 file photo shows President Barack Obama shaking hands with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, during a meeting to discuss the deficit and economy. Congress and the White House can significantly soften the initial impact of the “fiscal cliff” even if they fail to reach a compromise by Dec. 31. One thing they cannot control, however, is the financial markets' reaction, which possibly could be a panicky sell-off that triggers economic reversals worldwide. The stock market's unpredictability is perhaps the biggest wild card in the political showdown over the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Meat inspector furloughs several months away
Published: 06:19:44 PM, Tue 05 March 2013 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has acknowledged that it will be "several months" before meat inspectors are furloughed as part of across-the-board spending cuts that took effect March 1.
Vilsack detailed how the Agriculture Department will move forward on the furloughs at a House Agriculture Committee hearing Tuesday. He said each meat inspector will likely be furloughed 11 or 12 days, instead of 15 days as the Obama administration earlier claimed.
The White House has used the meat inspector furloughs as one example of how the cuts will affect the economy. Meatpacking plants cannot operate without inspectors, so the furloughs will cause plants across the country to shut down intermittently.
Vilsack said the process will be complicated because of negotiations with labor unions that represent the meat inspectors.
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tom vilsack, bill clinton, president of the united states, business, white house, across-the-board spending cuts, agriculture secretary tom, united states secretary of agriculture, meat inspector, meat inspector furloughs, meat inspectors, agriculture committee hearing
