Via Shutterstock

With federal budget sequestration in effect for a week now, the furlough notices are starting to flow in, and many of the affected government workers are the very ones who are responsible for maintaining the government’s ledgers.

The Washington Post reports that employees at the White House Office of Management and Budget recently received notification that they will have to take 10 days of unpaid leave this year. While the furlough days are discontinuous, they will begin next month and last through September when the current fiscal year ends.

Meanwhile, the effects of sequestration are starting to shape up at many of the agencies upon which the nation’s safety and security depends. Customs and Border Patrol employees face 14 furlough days, Environmental Protection Agency workers could see as many as 13 days of unpaid leave, and the Justice Department is planning on furloughing many of its staffers for up to 14 days.

Then there’s the Federal Aviation Administration, which is responsible for, among other things, regulating traffic in and out of the nation’s airports. As the Post reports, airport austerity does not sound particularly reassuring:

The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday notified its employees that they will be furloughed for 11 discontinuous days beginning the week of April 7.

“Please know that I sincerely regret the impact that even a single furlough day will have on you,” FAA Administrator Michael P. Huerta said in an e-mail to employees.

Doug Church, spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said in an e-mail: “We continue to implore Congress to act now to stop the very negative effects of these budget cuts before they take full effect. This does not need to happen. Travelers may face unneeded delays and the closure of nearly 200 towers would be very bad for the aviation system and the economy and communities that depend on those airports.”

In most cases, furloughs are expected to begin in late April, but for other agencies, they will begin sooner, especially the Defense Department, which is the most widely affected by the mandatory budget cuts that went into effect when Congress and the White House failed to craft an alternative deficit reduction package. Pentagon employees will start being notified about their unpaid leave—as much as 22 days—as soon as next week.