“Sequestration” or “the Sequester” is a process taking place in the United States of automatic, largely across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently canceled to enforce certain budget policy goals. It was first authorized by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (BBEDCA, Title II of P.L. 99-177, commonly known as the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
Sequestration is of current interest because it was included as an enforcement tool in the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112-25). Sequestration can also occur under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (Statutory PAYGO, Title I of P.L. 111-139). In either case, certain programs are exempt from sequestration, and special rules govern the effects of sequestration on others. Most of these provisions are found in Sections 255 and 256 of BBEDCA, as amended.
Nowadays, this “Sequestration" refers to mandatory cuts to social programs and defense that were scheduled to begin on January 2, 2013 as a result of the failure of the Congressional "Supercommittee" to agree on a plan for $3.8 trillion in deficit reduction, but were delayed until March 1st, 2013, to give Congress additional time to negotiate an agreement.
The 2011 Budget Control Act (S 365), which established the Supercommittee included the sequester provisions to provide a mandatory incentive for the Supercommittee to come to agreement, and to provide certainty that even without action by the Supercommittee, the deficit would be reduced to slow down the inordinate increase in the public debt without any close precedent in US history since 2009. The mandatory cuts are thus divided evenly among defense and non-defense spending, at roughly $500 billion each over ten years in both categories, with exceptions including Social Security; Veteran's Administration programs; refundable tax credits; low income programs including TANF, Pell grants and SSI; with special rules for Medicare, student loans, and unemployment payments. No money will be drawn from spending on wars and military personnel. Funding allocated for Medicaid and some other low-income programs will not be affected, either.
Two provisions were included in the BCA that could result in automatic sequestration as in fact it did:
•Establishment of discretionary spending limits, or caps, for each of FY2012-FY2021. If Congress appropriates more than allowed under these limits in any given year, sequestration would cancel the excess amount.
•Failure of Congress to enact legislation developed by a Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, to reduce the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion. The BCA provided that such failure would trigger a series of automatic spending reductions, including sequestration of mandatory spending in each of FY2013-FY2021, a one-year sequestration of discretionary spending for FY2013, and lower discretionary spending limits for each of FY2014-FY2021
Here's the Week Ahead in Congress when the House and Senate return this week with plans to work on one major piece of legislation — a spending bill for the rest of fiscal year 2013. While the $85 billion sequester went into effect last Friday, neither the House nor Senate has any plans to take up legislation to amend it or repeal it this week.
In the meanwhile, under the Federal Spending Bill the US budget is being ruled by a "continuing resolution". This is a type of legislation used by Congress to fund government agencies if a formal spending bill has not been signed into law by the end of the fiscal year in September. In fact, no formal spending bill was signed in September 2012.
Under the current continuing resolution, the government is funded until late March. The House is expected to pass a resolution for the rest of the fiscal year, through September 2013. Normally, a continuing resolution would allow the government to continue only with programs already in existence. Last week, however, Republicans said they would try to pass a resolution that gives the Defense Department the flexibility to start new programs over the next six months.
In the House:
Other than the continuing resolution, the House has plans to work on a few suspension bills:
• The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act (HR 307): reauthorizes several biohazard preparedness programs. The House will pass this Senate-amended bill and send it to President Obama for his signature. –You may support it at https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr307
• The Stop Tobacco Smuggling in the Territories Act (HR 338): would apply U.S. rules against smuggling tobacco to the U.S. territories. – You may support it at https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr338
• HR 668: requiring presidential budgets to include estimates of the per-taxpayer cost of the budget deficit. – You may support it at https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr668
In the Senate:
The Senate is in all week, but as of the weekend it had no plan to take up any legislation, except for a resolution setting budgets for Senate committees for the rest of the fiscal year. The Senate will vote on some judicial nominations, and could make plans during the week to consider other bills.
In addition, Republicans controlling the U.S. House moved Monday to give the Pentagon more money for military readiness while easing the pain felt by such agencies as the FBI and the Border Patrol from the across-the-board spending cuts that are just starting to take effect. The effort is part of a huge spending measure that would fund day-to-day federal operations through September -- and head off a potential government shutdown later this month.
The measure would leave in place automatic cuts of 5% to domestic agencies and 7.8% to the Pentagon ordered by President Barack Obama Friday night after months of battling with Republicans over the budget. Both Democrats and Republicans for months have warned the cuts are draconian and would slow the growth of the economy and cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, for instance, says they would slow the economy by 0.6 percent and cost about 750,000 jobs.
The new House Republicans' legislation would award the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments their detailed 2013 budgets while other agencies would be frozen at 2012 levels -- and then bear the across-the-board cuts. The new Republican funding measure is set to advance through the House on Wednesday. It is aimed at preventing a government shutdown when a six-month spending bill passed last September runs out March 27.
A bill proposed by House Republicans on Monday is a $982 billion continuing resolution which would ensure the government remains open when its current funding mechanism expires on March 27, also includes money to ensure border security guards are not laid off. And it would provide $2 billion in new funding for embassy security, a response to the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which four Americans were killed. The measure also would extend a pay freeze for federal employees, including members of Congress, nixing a 0.5 percent raise that had been scheduled to go into effect in April.
The resolution would restore no funding to the military, which absorbed half of the across-the-board cuts. But it does reflect new priorities for military spending negotiated between Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate last year, which is intended to help blunt the impact. For instance, the House measure proposes adding $10.4 billion to the Pentagon’s operations and maintenance budget — growing the key account even as it takes a hit through sequestration.
The House will vote on the bill Thursday. Democrats oppose this bill in block. It will then be up to Senate Democrats and President Obama to decide whether to accept the resolution.
Aside from the responsibility shared by both major parties, the fact is that the President has failed to be an effective negotiator. Blaming Republicans in block as public enemies do not help any kind of negotiation. Leadership means power of persuasion with proper reasoning and pragmatic logic. How come he is not able to convince a few Republicans to come to his side? Has he even tried it? Most Republicans and most Democrats are honest, good people wanting the best for their country. They just have different views on how to resolve some important issues.
Once the difficult issues were clearly established, the President has the power of his Constitutional duty to lead the negotiations in good faith, so as to steer the opposing views to a middle course that will be satisfactory to a substantial number of his opponents, enough to pass a budget that is not tainted by extreme intolerance and partisan division but accepted by enough members of both parties to make it a constructive bi-partisan decision.
The alternative of pushing the United States through a fiscal cliff is an extremely div