After averting the much-feared fiscal cliff at the very last moment nearly two months ago, the United States is now grappling with another dreadful countdown under which the Pentagon and a host of other federal departments could face steep spending cuts and sharp job losses.

With apparently no fresh meeting ground between the White House and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, across-the board  Budget cuts are set to kick in automatically from March 1 under the so-called “sequester” plan.

The Pentagon, which will be the chief victim of the plan to slash federal spending by $85 billion this year, has warned that its 800,000 civilian employees could be furloughed.

The plan could mean 22 days of unpaid leave for these employees, effectively translating into 20 per cent pay cut for nearly six months.

Notifying Congress of the plan, Defence Secretary leon Panetta said the furloughs would be “disruptive and damaging”, but there were no “viable alternatives” to reduce spending if the budget cuts occur.

“In the event of sequestration, we will do everything we can to be able to continue to perform our core mission of providing for the security of the United States,” Panetta wrote in his memo to Speaker John Boehner, cautioning: “But there is no mistaking that the rigid nature of the cuts forced upon this department, and their scale, will result in a serious erosion of readiness across the force.”

A polemical war has erupted between the White House and the Congress on what has led to the “sequester”. After President Barack Obama publicly hit out at the House Republicans, Speaker John Boehner attacked him in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, titled, “The President is raging against a Budget crisis he created.”