The U.S. Department of Defense has announced it will put most of its civilian staff on unpaid leave for one day a week from July eighth because of “a historic budgetary shortfall.”

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced the furlough on Tuesday, saying the department did everything it could to avoid that decision.

The furlough period will continue through the end of the current fiscal year on September 30th. Most civilians will receive unpaid leave for eleven days total.

The U.S. Defense Department had to slash its spending by 37 billion U.S. dollars a year due to the federal government’s automatic budget cuts known as the "sequester," which began on March first, this year.