The US defense department says it has begun laying off most of its 46,000 temporary employees, as automatic defense budget cuts loom in March.
Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said the Pentagon was acting “because we’re running out of time” to absorb potential changes to their budget.
$50bn (£32bn) in cuts are due this year under the so-called fiscal cliff.
Lawmakers made a last-minute deal on 1 January to put them off for two months, but the ultimate outcome is undecided.
Mr Carter said he was directing each military service to produce detailed plans by 1 February on reducing short-term spending.
He also said the Pentagon could force its 800,000 civilian employees to lose one day of work per week without pay from April, in a move that would save $5bn.
The Pentagon and other parts of the US government face across-the-board cuts on 1 March, with an estimated $500bn decrease in the defense budget over 10 years.