Catastrophic sequestration just around the corner?
If Congress and the president can't come to an agreement and soon, the Defense Department could be heading straight for sequestration.
It may be nearly impossible to create and pass a balanced defense budget with a 20 percent reduction in spending with President Barack Obama promising to veto any attempt to prevent military sequestration that does not include tax increases and Congressional members up for reelection who hope to avoid increasing taxes, reports AOL Defense’s Mackenzie Eaglen. The reduction could be as much as $1 trillion over the next nine years.
Some are hopeful that the budget will be balanced and sequestration thwarted when Congress resumes after the election in November. However, Eaglen notes that this is unlikely not only for the same reason they can’t balance it now – partisanship – but also because they will be facing a myriad of other budgetary concerns, including raising the debt ceiling; expiration of Bush tax cuts; fiscal 2013 appropriations bills; early sequestration processes; and possible sequestration furloughs, just to name a few.
It would seem that the Defense Department – which would face an immediate cut of 10 percent across the board if sequestration is not avoided – is already slowing down spending and preparing for the worst, Eaglen said.