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Report Required on Sequester Impacts

We may soon learn more about how the scheduled automatic budget cuts, or sequester, will affect federal programs. Yesterday, the Senate passed a House measure (HR 5872) giving the Obama administration 30 days to describe its plans for implementing the $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts scheduled to go into effect beginning in January. The measure had broad bi-partisan support, passing the Senate unanimously after having passed the House last week in a 414-2 vote. Republicans pushed the bill as a way to highlight what they say will be a devastating reduction to the military budget. Democrats also backed the proposal as a way to highlight what the cuts would mean, including the portion that will come from domestic programs supporting education, health and human services, and scientific research. President Obama is expected to sign the bill.