Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will announce on Tuesday that most of the Pentagon's 800,000 civilian employees will be placed on unpaid leave for 11 days this fiscal year, less than a previous estimate of 14 days, defense officials told Reuters.
Hagel, who will announce the decision at a town hall meeting with Pentagon employees, made the decision to go ahead with the furloughs after studying various options to comply with deep cuts in defense spending that the Defense Department must implement by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
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