"The Executive Office of the President is subject to the sequester, and we anticipate significant disruption to our operations and mission, which could include furloughs," said the official, who did not provide further details.

President Barack Obama has been sounding the alarm about the impact of the $85 billion in automatic across-the-board government spending cuts set to take effect on March 1.

The White House has talked about potential layoffs for a broad spectrum of federal employees such as emergency workers, preschool teachers and meat inspectors to illustrate the impact, part of an effort to spur congressional Republicans to negotiate with Democrats to avert the cuts.

Some analysts have said the fears are overplayed and expect few immediate outward signs of the cuts on March 1.