The law Congress enacted to stop sequestration-related furloughs at the FAA provides a model for how similar relief could be granted in other agencies that have threatened, or already have started, furloughs.
Congress approved the legislation within a week of the start of furloughs for air traffic controllers and other FAA employees, some 47,000 in all. The effect of furloughing the controllers was the largest motivating factor, as air traffic stacked up and flights were delayed or canceled, particularly at major Eastern hub airports.
The relief law does not increase the FAA’s budget authority or surpass 2011 Budget Control Act limits. Instead, it explicitly authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to transfer for fiscal 2013 to any FAA appropriations account – including that for air traffic control – a certain amount from funds otherwise made available for discretionary grants-in-aid under the airport improvement program or any other FAA program.
It also makes any transferred amount available immediately for obligation and expenditure as directly appropriated budget authority, and prohibits any such transfer of funds unless the secretary notifies Congress at least five days in advance.
Relief is being considered for numerous other agencies, most notably DHS, DoD and the federal judiciary.