Sequestration Debate Rages
Implementation Deadline Hits as Congress, Administration Trade Barbs
The debate regarding sequestration hit a fever pitch this past week as members of Congress and Obama administration officials traded barbs over the automatic, across-the-board budget cuts that are slated to take effect around midnight on March 1.
Sequestration, which is the result of the joint select committee’s failure to produce a budget plan that would cut at least $1.2 trillion in spending over 10 years, will require an annual reduction of roughly five percent for nondefense programs and eight percent for defense programs. However, given that the spending cuts must be achieved over only seven months instead of 12, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has advised that the effective percentage decreases will be approximately nine percent for nondefense programs and 13 percent for defense programs.