A bill introduced in the House would cut 10 percent of the federal workforce to avoid the first year of automatic cuts to the Defense Department.

Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, introduced the proposal on Wednesday.

Last month's failure of the debt reduction supercommittee to find $1.2 trillion in savings over a decade triggered a process known as sequestration, automatic, across-the-board cuts to discretionary spending. Defense spending would be cut by $500 billion, on top of the $465 billion cut this year, McKeon said in a release.

The bill — the Down Payment To Protect National Security Act — would achieve the 10 percent federal workforce reduction over a decade by hiring only one federal employee for every three who retire, according to a release from McKeon.

McKeon said his bill would save the government $127 billion. He added that more than half of the deficit reduction efforts have come from the military.

"The troops simply don't have any more to give," McKeon said in a statement. "It is time we address our debt crisis sensibly, by literally shrinking the size of government."

RELATED STORIES

Defense authorization bill nears passage in Congress

Effects of sequestration on the Pentagon

Bill tracker: Proposals affecting federal pay, benefits