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The mass furlough of 115,000 employees at the Internal Revenue Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Housing and Urban Development and the small Office of Management and Budget — 5 percent of the federal workforce — is happening because of the budget cuts known as sequestration.
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Even in a government shutdown, thousands of essential employees are still called to work. In this case, the only ones in the office will be a small number of Senate-confirmed presidential appointees who are exempt from furloughs and emergency responders.