US News : Sequester: No deal in sight on automatic US budget cuts
AMERICAN government spending is facing an automatic hit of $85bn (£56bn) in cuts as Congress appears unlikely to reach a compromise over the budget before a deadline that expires tonight.
Unless a deal is reached by midnight (5am Saturday morning in the UK) the cuts will kick in for various federal budgets.
The initial $85bn applies to the next seven months, yet the total amount of automatic cuts – known as sequestration – would be $1.2 trillion over the subsequent decade, unless politicians come up with an alternative budget plan in the meantime.
President Barack Obama has invited congressional leaders to the White House for negotiations.
Mr Obama warned that the cuts will harm the economy. The IMF said they could have a global impact on growth.
On Thursday budget bills from both parties were defeated in the Senate, and a top Republican said the House would wait for Senate action.
The president accused Senate Republicans of allowing the cuts to proceed rather than "closing a single tax loophole that benefits the well-off and well-connected".
The president said that by not doing a budget deal to avoid the cuts, Congress will impose a "self-inflicted wound" on America.
The BBC's Mark Mardell in Washington says the cuts are meant to hurt - they were deliberately designed two years ago to be so brutally painful that politicians of left and right would be forced to agree on a better way of balancing the books.
AMERICAN government spending is facing an automatic hit of $85bn (£56bn) in cuts as Congress appears unlikely to reach a compromise over the budget before a deadline that expires tonight.
Unless a deal is reached by midnight (5am Saturday morning in the UK) the cuts will kick in for various federal budgets.
The initial $85bn applies to the next seven months, yet the total amount of automatic cuts – known as sequestration – would be $1.2 trillion over the subsequent decade, unless politicians come up with an alternative budget plan in the meantime.
President Barack Obama has invited congressional leaders to the White House for negotiations.
Mr Obama warned that the cuts will harm the economy. The IMF said they could have a global impact on growth.
On Thursday budget bills from both parties were defeated in the Senate, and a top Republican said the House would wait for Senate action.
The president accused Senate Republicans of allowing the cuts to proceed rather than "closing a single tax loophole that benefits the well-off and well-connected".
The president said that by not doing a budget deal to avoid the cuts, Congress will impose a "self-inflicted wound" on America.
The BBC's Mark Mardell in Washington says the cuts are meant to hurt - they were deliberately designed two years ago to be so brutally painful that politicians of left and right would be forced to agree on a better way of balancing the books.
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