As Washington, D.C. furiously plans for $85 billion in budget cuts that could kick in starting this Friday, most federal employees will not feel an immediate change, as any furloughs won't begin until April.
That's because under federal law, workers get a 30 day notice of possible furloughs, and they also have seven days to appeal.
So, while March 1 is the deadline this Friday, Congress really has a month to get things in order before there would be major upheaval in the ranks of the civil service.
But it is also important to realize that not all federal agencies will be impacted by the sequester in the same way as well, because some have evidently prepared for this moment better than others and others because of the ways of the federal budget.
For example, there is the General Accountability Office, the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress. They will have no furloughs.
Why not? Because they had already gone through budget cuts, and the employee unions there worked with management in recent months to find ways to save even more money, ensuring that GAO workers won't be forced to take time off if the sequester stays in effect for months.
"We project that we would no longer require furloughs at GAO to absorb the potential reduction associated with sequestration," said GAO Chief Gene Dodaro in a recent letter to employees.
Of course, it's not the same in all federal agencies.
"Should sequestration occur, we would likely need to implement furloughs impacting about a third of our workforce," the Agriculture Department told Senators earlier this month.
Note - it didn't say all workers - just a third.
But things are much different over at the Pentagon, where over 700,000 civilian defense workers - of about 800,000 - would face one furlough day per week starting in late April.
Over at the Education Department, while the Obama Administration has been sounding the alarm about cuts in education money for the states, much of that won't happen right away either.
"In general, the hardship will be concentrated in the 2013-2014 school year," the Department told Senators earlier this month, though it was noted that there are some "important exceptions" to that.
On Capitol Hill, not all offices are equal as well, as like the GAO, some members of Congress have better prepared themselves for a possible sequester, hoping they won't have to institute pay cuts or furloughs if their office budgets are slashed.
"We are light on staff," one Republican told me last week. "We should be fine, I hope."
While numbers are not publicly available for a year-to-date comparison amongst lawmakers, a quick review of office spending last year showed some in Congress might be okay if there is a sequester, while other lawmakers with much higher payrolls, could be forced to institute furloughs and pay cuts.
Sunday evening, the White House released state-by-state numbers to try to further demonstrate the impact of these cuts, though officials rejected the assertion that they are just engaging in fear mongering.
"Are all of these things going to go into effect on the first day? No," said White House official Dan Pfeiffer in a Sunday conference call with reporters.
"But there are hundreds of thousands of people who will lose their jobs," Pfeiffer added.
But the problem for the White House is that much of that impact may not be immediate, which could certainly influence the course of the budget debate on Capitol Hill.
Looking ahead this week in the Congress, the Senate is expected to vote on a plan from each party on the sequester; it is conceivable that nothing will pass.
It is also possible that neither the House nor the Senate will even be in session on Friday when the deadline arrives for the $85 billion in cuts.
My forecast for Washington, D.C. this week - a 100% chance of partisan finger pointing, with a chance of last ditch efforts to avert the sequester.
