U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, weighed in on Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s announcement that the “vast majority” of DoD’s civilian workforce could be furloughed if the across-the-board sequestration cuts kick in on March. 1.

Hirono said in a statement:

“As the Secretary of Defense explained today, more than 80% of  DOD workers will impacted by furloughs if the sequester goes through. These across the board, meat-axe cuts are the wrong way to reduce spending. Sequestration would harm national security, reduce our military’s readiness and hurt Hawaii’s economy.”

Hirono said she supports a Senate Democratic approach that would replace the sequester with a plan half made up of cuts and half through revenue increases.

Defense Department Spokesperson, Cmdr. Leslie Hull-Ryde, told Civil Beat there are about 19,000 civilian DOD workers in Hawaii, who perform a variety of functions.

Panetta in a message to DoD workers warned, “there is no mistaking that the rigid nature of the cuts forced upon this department, and their scale, will result in a serious erosion of readiness across the force.”

Panetta says in part:

I have also been deeply concerned about the potential direct impact of sequestration on you and your families. We are doing everything possible to limit the worst effects on DoD personnel – but I regret that our flexibility within the law is extremely limited. The president has used his legal authority to exempt military personnel funding from sequestration, but we have no legal authority to exempt civilian personnel funding from reductions. As a result, should sequestration occur and continue for a substantial period, DoD will be forced to place the vast majority of its civilian workforce on administrative furlough.

Today, I notified Congress that furloughs could occur under sequestration. I can assure you that, if we have to implement furloughs, all affected employees will be provided at least 30 days’ notice prior to executing a furlough and your benefits will be protected to the maximum extent possible. We also will work to ensure that furloughs are executed in a consistent and appropriate manner, and we will also continue to engage in discussions with employee unions as appropriate.

You can read Panetta’s entire statement here.

The Hill, meanwhile, reports the back-and-forth blame game continues between the White House and House Republicans:

Obama will be on the road again next week with campaign-style events arguing that Republicans are at fault for the cuts, while the GOP blames the White House for the sequester.

“Republicans in Congress face a simple choice,” the president said Tuesday. “Are they willing to compromise to protect vital investments in education and healthcare and national security and all the jobs that depend on them? Or would they rather put hundreds of thousands of jobs and our entire economy at risk just to protect a few special interest tax loopholes that benefit only the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations?”

But Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in response to the Pentagon furloughs that Obama has yet to put forward a plan to stop the across-the-board cuts, while the House has passed an alternative.

“I agree with the secretary of Defense that the impact of the president’s sequester would be devastating to our military,” Boehner said in a statement. “That’s why the House has acted twice to replace the president’s sequester with common-sense cuts and reforms that protect our national security, and it’s why I’ve been calling on the president for more than a year to press his Democratic-controlled Senate to do the same.”

— Kery Murakami