Rep. Cummings: Staff members are already taking furlough days

{mosads}Ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) revealed at the end of a hearing on Tuesday that he has notified his staff that they will not work two days each month.

“I just told my employees they’re taking two days of furlough … People say that sequestration does not have impact – that’s real,” Cummings said at the tail end of a hearing on Pentagon and Homeland Security matters.

Cummings noted that “some of these employees are making $40,000 to $45,000,” and they are “losing two days a month – that’s real. In fact they’ve already started taking furlough days.”

It was unclear whether the furloughed employees worked in Cummings’ personal office or were committee staff.

Many lawmakers have dealt with the sequestration cuts by refraining from filling open job positions in their respective offices or committees.