Looks like there are too many cooks in the White House kitchen.
White House assistant chef Sam Kass, who cooks weekly for President Obama, said Tuesday that he is facing a furlough brought about by crippling federal budget cuts.
The chef, who is also the president’s senior nutrition policy adviser, is one of nearly 500 White House employees who are expected to receive furlough notices because of the so-called sequester.
On the chopping block: Assistant White House Chef Sam Kass, pictured in 2009, is one of 480 White House staffers facing furloughs
Staying active: Mr Kass, right, was named a Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives in 2010, working with First Lady Michelle Obama on her 'Let's Move!' initiative to reverse childhood obesity
Speaking with food reporters Tuesday, Mr Kass said: ‘We’re being furloughed,’ according to Reuters.
A White House spokesman who accompanied Kass to the press briefing declined to comment on the matter.
News of the possible White House staff furloughs comes days after several members of the Obama administration announced that they would return a portion of their salaries to the federal government as a sign of solidarity to the austere days ahead in Washington.
The chef cooks dinner several times a week for the president and while he likely won’t be preparing all of the president’s meals in the coming weeks, the New York Times’ Caucus blog cheekily notes that it is unlikely the president will miss any meals.
Make our garden grow: First lady Michelle Obama waters wheat seedlings during the spring planting of the White House garden last week; Kass helped create the vegetable garden on the South Lawn
It is unclear whether notices have gone out to other Obama aides informing them that they must take days off without pay.
Mr Kass, who was trained in Chicago and Vienna, joined the White House Kitchen staff in 2009 and was named a Senior Policy Adviser for Healthy Food Initiatives a year later, working with First Lady Michelle Obama on her ‘Let’s Move!’ initiative to reverse childhood obesity.
He also helped create the vegetable garden on the South Lawn that has yielded 3,000 pounds of fresh produce for the first family.
Mr Kass told reporters that effort won't be affected, according to the Associated Press.
The sequester – which consists of $85 billion in cuts – went into effect last month after Congress failed to stop it.
Hundreds of thousands of workers could be forced to take unpaid leave if those on Capitol Hill don’t reach an agreement to undo the cuts.
Tough times: President Obama, pictured yesterday leaving the Oval Office, will give five percent of his salary back to the federal government as a symbolic gesture that all of government has been hurt by the sequester