Sequestration Report Released by OMB This Week

09/20/2012

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a report this week outlining the sequester, or automatic budget cuts, that will go into effect on January 2, 2013 pursuant to the Budget Control Act of 2011, unless Congress acts to cancel them. The budget cuts will total $109 billion for 2013, $54.6 billion from defense and $54.6 billion from nondefense.  The percentage cuts will be 9.4% for defense discretionary accounts, 10% of defense mandatory accounts, 8.2% for domestic discretionary accounts and 7.6% for domestic mandatory accounts.  While a small number of accounts will be exempt from the sequester, such as federal retirement programs, most NTEU represented agencies’ budget accounts will face cuts of 8.2%. Review the report here.

The SEC would face a cut of $108 million in 2013. This substantial decrease in resources would result in a diminishment of the critical work of the SEC and the American people would feel the effects.

The OMB report stated that the Administration does not support these cuts and is willing to work with Congress to ensure they do not take place. NTEU will continue to work to ensure that these cuts are avoided and that they are not replaced with further cuts to federal pay and benefits as some in Congress have suggested. Federal employees have already contributed $75 billion to deficit reduction through the pay freeze and increased pension contributions for new hires. They should not be targeted again.