AZ senators warn of job losses from DOD budget cuts - CBS 5 - KPHO

Arizona Sens. Jon Kyle and John McCain said Department of Defense and other federal agency cuts might lead to the loss of more than 41,000 jobs in their state.

The senators said the cuts would be devastating to national security and cause the loss of more than 2 million jobs nationwide. They said job losses could begin as early as September.

The automatic cuts are the result of sequestration, which is the indiscriminate budget-cutting mechanism triggered by the Budget Control Act of 2011.

The senators have introduced new legislation, S. 2065, that offers $109.3 billion in offsets required to replace one year of defense and non-defense sequestration. Under the provisions of the bill, federal employee salaries would be frozen at current levels until 2014 and only two employees would be hired for every three that retire.

A George Mason University economic assessment determined the cuts from sequestration would lead to the loss of more than 41,189 defense and non-defense related jobs in Arizona.

Nationally, it is estimated that sequestration will reduce the nation's gross domestic product by $215 billion, decrease personal earnings of the workforce by $109.4 billion and cost more than 2.14 million jobs.

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