MAY 10, 2012
House Bills to Avert Aspects of Sequestration Ignore Medicare Cut
By Christi Foist
In an effort to avert mandatory Jan. 1 cuts to federal spending — particularly the defense budget — the House passed two bills today that would repeal portions of the sequestration mandate passed as part of a deficit-reduction deal Congress reached last year. Under the Budget Control Act of 2011, which created the sequestration process, most government agencies and programs will be subject to across-the-board cuts beginning Jan. 1 because a bipartisan, joint congressional committee failed to agree on $1.2 trillion in further spending cuts.