Sequestration Cuts Take Effect

On 1 March 2013, federal budget cuts that—according to the White House and members of Congress—were not meant to happen, began. Sequestration—$85 billion in across-the-board budget cuts to nearly all federal agencies—was meant as a threat to force congressional action to reduce the federal budget deficit. For a year and half, lawmakers have bemoaned how terrible the impacts of sequestration would be. Yet, as the deadline approached for action, little effort was made to further delay or avert the spending reductions, which some have compared to using a meat cleaver instead of a scalpel to cut spending. Non-defense programs, including agencies that support science, will be cut by about 9 percent over the next seven months. Defense funding will be cut by 13 percent in the remainder of fiscal year 2013. An additional $700 billion in sequestration cuts will occur over the next decade unless current law is changed.
Source: ActionBioscience - Category: Science Authors: Source Type: news