High Crimes and Misdemeanors

White House to contractors: Hold off on layoff warnings

By Jeanne Sahadi @CNNMoney,   September 28, 2012

The White House on Friday told government contractors worried about fiscal cliff spending cuts to hold off on warning employees about possible layoffs.

The government said it would cover legal costs if contractors are forced to slash their payrolls because of the looming $109 billion in automatic cuts next year and are alleged to have violated the WARN Act.

The federal WARN Act requires businesses with more than 100 employees to notify workers at least 60 days in advance of a mass layoff or plant closing. Some states require more notice.

“Any resulting employee compensation costs for WARN Act liability as determined by a court, as well as attorneys’ fees and other litigation costs (irrespective of litigation outcome) would qualify as allowable costs and be covered by the contracting agency, if otherwise reasonable and allocable,” the Office of Management and Budget said in its guidance.

Defense contractors in particular have warned for months that the upcoming sequester would cost jobs in their industry. And Lockheed Martin‘s CEO has said publicly he may be forced to issue notice this fall of possible layoffs in 2013.

If other contractors follow suit, there could be a rash of layoff notices spooking employees right before Election Day.

So, according to Obama, his OMB is not subject to the Federal WARN Act.  Last week, also according to Obama, we learned that his Secretary of HHS is not subject to obeying the Federal Hatch Act.

Instead of a nation of laws, this nation, under Obama, risks becoming a nation of pay-to-play.

It is time for Congress to their duty and draft Articles of Impeachment right away.   This unlawful pattern of behavior endangers the Republic, and must not be allowed to stand.

Also at  Jeremy Herb, The Hill, and Battleground Watch