If sequestration goes into effect Friday, your agency won’t be the only one getting a haircut. Congress itself faces more than $230 million in cuts. Kevin Brancato, an analyst at Bloomberg Government, joins us now with details.

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As agencies tighten their belts, there’s one area where they may not be spending enough — cybersecurity. One research firm says last year federal agencies on average earmarked 8 percent of their total IT budgets on cybersecurity. Industry spends twice that. Cyber attacks are on the rise. Maybe agencies should budget more for cyber tools and training.

By all accounts, the federal government is sliding toward mass furloughs as a response to sequestration. Managers are obligated to apply furloughs in an even-handed way. They’re not supposed to be disciplinary. Here to explain what rights employees have if they are singled out unfairly for furlough is Debra Roth, a partner at the law firm Shaw Brandford and Roth.

RELATED LINK: Letter to Sen. Tom Carper from Susan Tsui Grundmann (GovExec)

By the end of the year, the Postal Service could have just one center dedicated to the art of reading bad handwriting. It’s in Salt Lake City. Last week, the agency announced it would close its center in Kansas. Officials say new technology can do the job of deciphering poorly written addresses just as well as people. One person who might disagree with that assessment is Karen Heath, the manager of the Salt Lake City Remote Encoding Center.

The White House says agencies should make it easier to use their scientific research. The Office of Science and Technology Policy has released a memo directing research-heavy agencies to draft open-access plans within six months. Peter Suber has advocated for greater access to federally-funded research. He is director of the Harvard Open Access Project.