{"id":19294,"date":"2013-02-27T23:44:20","date_gmt":"2013-02-28T04:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=19294"},"modified":"2013-02-27T23:44:20","modified_gmt":"2013-02-28T04:44:20","slug":"sequestration-what-does-it-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2013\/02\/sequestration-what-does-it-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"“Sequestration\u201d
What Does It Mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>What is Sequestration?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sequestration, sometimes called the sequester, is a process that automatically cuts the federal budget across most departments and agencies.<\/p>\n

Congress included the threat of sequestration in the\u00a0Budget Control Act of 2011<\/a>\u00a0as a way to encourage compromise on deficit reduction efforts.<\/p>\n

Congress couldn\u2019t agree on a budget by the deadline set in the Budget Control Act, so mandatory budget cuts were scheduled to go into effect on January 2, 2013.<\/p>\n

Congress stopped the cuts from happening by passing the\u00a0American Taxpayer Relief Act<\/a>\u00a0on January 2. This law pushed the budget cuts back until March 1, 2013.<\/p>\n

If Congress cannot agree on a budget to reduce the deficit by March 1, then sequestration would happen and $85 billion in spending cuts would go into effect.<\/p>\n

These reports give detailed information about the amount that programs may be cut and which programs are exempt from sequestration:<\/p>\n