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New Jersey U.S. Attorney Disputes Gov. Christie On Sequester's Impact

NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - On Monday, Gov. Chris Christie said the scheduled federal spending cuts are having little effect in New Jersey. His successor as U.S. Attorney disagrees.

"Honestly, it has a morale effect on everybody," U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman told WCBS 880 reporter Peter Haskell on Tuesday. "It is, to many people, disheartening."

He said employees are worried.

New Jersey U.S. Attorney Disputes Gov. Christie On Sequester's Impact'

"There are people in this office, maybe the lawyers and certainly the support staff, who may be living paycheck to paycheck," he said. "What I hear is people being uncertain about whether they're going to have to take a week off for no pay when they've got kids in school who are going to camp or car payments or mortgage payments."

Starting in April, workers will take unpaid days off and he said cases will suffer.

"If we have fewer people on our staff, we necessarily will do fewer cases," said Fishman, who noted that they are always prioritizing.

Ironically, Fishman's office actually makes money for the government.

"Last year, on a budget of $30 or $31 million, this office brought back $140 million," he said.

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