Automatic spending cuts that took effect last Friday are expected to touch a vast range of government services. Some examples:
TRANSPORTATION
People arriving on international flights are already experiencing delays at airport customs and immigration booths, including at Los Angeles International and O'Hare International in Chicago. Officials said Monday that's because they closed lanes that would have previously been staffed by workers on overtime.
Officials also have warned that the nation's busiest airports could be forced to close some of their runways, causing widespread flight delays and cancellations. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood predicts flights to cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco could have delays of up to 90 minutes during peak hours because fewer controllers will be on duty.
Though the spending cuts went into effect last week, furloughs of controllers won't kick in until April because the Federal Aviation Administration is required by law to give its employees advance notice.
DEFENSE
The Pentagon says it will be forced to furlough for one day a week about 15,000 teachers who work at schools around the world for children of people in the military. Commissaries will be open only five days a week instead of six.
The teachers are among some 800,000 defense department civilians who will lose a day's pay each week for more than five months. The Army will let go more than 3,000 temporary and contract employees and beginning in April, it will cancel maintenance at depots which will force 5,000 more layoffs. The Air Force Thunderbirds and the Navy's Blue Angels will cancel air show appearances.
The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman sits pier-side in Norfolk, Va., its deployment to the Persian Gulf delayed. The carrier and its 5,000-person crew were to leave Feb. 8, along with the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg.
Furlough notices will begin going out later this month to about 800,000 defense department civilians, who will lose a day's pay each week for more than five months. The Army will let go more than 3,000 temporary and contract employees and beginning in April, it will cancel maintenance at depots which will force 5,000 more layoffs. The Air Force Thunderbirds and the Navy's Blue Angels will cancel air show appearances.
Veterans' funerals at Arlington National Cemetery could be cut to 24 a day from 31 because of furloughs among civilian employees who work with families to schedule services as well as furloughs among crews that dig the graves and do other grounds work. Troops killed in action in Afghanistan will be the priority - they are usually laid to rest within two weeks - but funerals for vets from previous wars would be delayed, Army spokesman George Wright said.
Coast Guard rescue aircraft will fly fewer hours and cutters will patrol the seas for fewer hours, says Commandant Adm. Robert J. Papp. Emergencies will be a priority and interdictions of illegal immigrants, drugs and illegal fishing could decline.
HOMELAND SECURITY
Documents reviewed by The Associated Press show that more than 2,000 illegal immigrants have been freed from jails across the country since Feb. 15. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman, however, reiterated the number is in the hundreds. ICE officials say they had reviewed several hundred cases of immigrants and decided to put them on an "appropriate, more cost-effective form of supervised release" in a move started Tuesday.
FOOD SAFETY
There could be an estimated 2,100 fewer food safety inspections and increased risks to consumers because of the cuts and the fact that lack of a new 2013 budget means the Food and Drug Administration is held at last year's spending level. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg says most of the effects wouldn't be felt for a while, and the agency won't have to furlough workers.
HEALTH CARE
Hospitals, doctors and other Medicare providers will see a 2 percent cut in government reimbursements because once the cutback takes effect, Medicare will reimburse them at 98 cents on the dollar. But they aren't complaining because the pain could be a lot worse if President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans actually did reach a sweeping agreement to reduce federal deficits. Automatic cuts taking effect Friday would reduce Medicare spending by about $100 billion over a decade. But Obama had put on the table $400 billion in health care cuts, mainly from Medicare. And Republicans wanted more.
On the other hand, Obama's health overhaul law is expected to roll out on time and largely unscathed by the cuts. Part of the reason is that the law's major subsidies to help uninsured people buy private health coverage are structured as tax credits. So is the Affordable Care Act's assistance for small businesses. Tax credits have traditionally been exempted from automatic cuts.
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