WASHINGTON – Republicans accused President Barack Obama of trying to keep middle-class Americans in the dark about whether they’ll lose their jobs from impending defense cuts as a Labor Department memo cautioning contractors about layoff notices set off political recriminations.

“The president doesn’t want people reading about pink slips in the weeks before his election, so the White House is telling people to keep the effects of these cuts a secret until after the election,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday in a speech on the Senate floor.

The memo advised federal contractors – major defense firms among them – that they do not have to warn their employees about potential layoffs from the automatic, across-the-board budget cuts that kick in Jan. 2.