sequester

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Obama to Return Portion of Salary

President says he's making 5% gesture to support federal workers

(Newser) - President Obama will return 5% of his salary every month as a gesture of support for federal workers soon to be hit with unpaid furloughs, reports the New York Times . Given his $400,000 salary, the move amounts to about $16,600 through the end of the year. A White...

How the USDA Hacked the Sequester

Tom Vilsack got $55M in new money for meat inspectors

(Newser) - There's no way to get out of the sequester's mandatory budget cuts, right? Wrong—at least for the USDA. Just three weeks after the sequester hit, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack found a way around it, snagging $55 million in new money for meat inspectors—just about the same...

GOP Leaders Splurge on Coffee, Donuts
 GOP Leaders Splurge 
 on Coffee, Donuts 
$24K ... in 3 months
Mar 14, 2013 1:00 PM CDT

GOP Leaders Splurge on Coffee, Donuts

Blew $24k on Whole Foods, Dunkin Donuts, PF Chang's in just 3 months: report

(Newser) - While serving up sound bites on belt-tightening and cost-cutting to the public, House Republican leaders have been helping themselves to the exact opposite behind closed doors, chowing through $24,000 in taxpayer dollars on food and beverages in just three months, according to an investigation by the Washington Guardian . John...

Yellowstone Hopes Sun Will Save It $30K a Day
Yellowstone Hopes Sun Will Help Save It $30K a Day
sequester aftermath
Mar 11, 2013 7:45 AM CDT

Yellowstone Hopes Sun Will Help Save It $30K a Day

Decision to delay snowplowing not going over well in sequester aftermath

(Newser) - How the sequester will hit Yellowstone in general is clear: The park needs to ax $1.8 million from what it anticipated would be a $35 million budget. The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal take a look at the specific fallout: Park superintendent Dan Wenk's plan is to...

Obama: Sorry, Joe Biden Is 'Too Young to Be Pope'

Riffs on Woodward, sequester at Gridiron

(Newser) - President Obama put in his second appearance of his presidency at the Gridiron Club last night, lamenting the not-so-funny consequences of the sequester, his vice president, his administration's weird tiff with Bob Woodward, and more. Highlights, as per Politico , CNN , and the AP :
  • On the Woodward ruckus: "Now
...

TSA Draws Rage for $50M Uniform Deal, Knives Policy

Agency accused of being tone-deaf, making flight attendants 'sitting ducks'

(Newser) - Just a week before the sequester kicked in, the TSA signed a deal to spend $50 million on new uniforms, reports Politico . The agency calls the uniforms a necessity, but for many on Capitol Hill it was just another sign of the TSA's cluelessness. "When we’re losing...

Obama Shifts Strategy, Woos GOP Lawmakers

President begins 'charm offensive' in search for long-term budget deal

(Newser) - Politico calls it President Obama's "Plan B," while the Huffington Post see it as the start of a "charm offensive." Whatever the name, it begins tonight as Obama hosts eight Republican senators at a dinner at a posh hotel near the White House. (John...

Sequester's Bite: 173 Air Traffic Control Towers to Close

Despite efficiency, contract towers bear brunt of cuts

(Newser) - OK, maybe the sequester hasn't hit the airline industry just yet, but wait until April 7. That's when 173 air traffic control towers at small- and medium-sized airports around the nation will close; 16 more will be shuttered on Sept. 30. As CNN explains, the affected towers are...

Stewart: Sequester Is Like Sexy Choking

Congress screws up, but 'we're the ones blacking out'

(Newser) - Jon Stewart last night took Washington to task over sequestration—which pundits once assured us would never happen. "It's as likely as Dennis Rodman being our chief envoy to North Korea ," Stewart quipped on the Daily Show . The sequester, he says, is a bit like autoerotic asphyxiation:...

Actually, No Delays at Airports—Yet

Airport reports contradict Janet Napolitano

(Newser) - Janet Napolitano warned travelers yesterday that the sequester is already causing long lines at airports, but the Wall Street Journal and Politico both pooh-pooh that idea today. A dozen major airports tell the Journal there were no unusual delays or lines yesterday, and Politico notes that no passenger complaints or...

Sequester Already Screwing Up Airports: Napolitano

Furlough announcements go out today

(Newser) - It may take a while for the full impact of the sequester to hit Americans, but some people are already feeling the pain, Janet Napolitano told Politico today, namely the sad souls in line at airport security. "We are having to reduce or eliminate basically overtime both for TSA...

White House, GOP Upbeat on Avoiding Shutdown

Boehner cites agreement with Obama

(Newser) - The next big budget debate—over money to keep the government open—shouldn't be as fraught as the last one, leaders say. "The president agreed that we should not have any talk of a government shutdown," John Boehner told NBC in an interview broadcast yesterday. "So...

Woodward, Sperling Make Nice
 Woodward, 
 Sperling 
 Make Nice 
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP
Mar 3, 2013 1:40 PM CST

Woodward, Sperling Make Nice

And Ann Romney wanted to go on 'Dancing With the Stars'

(Newser) - Bob Woodward and Gene Sperling took their much publicized spat even more public today, but appeared to put an end to it, with Sperling calling Woodward "a legend," and said legend inviting Sperling over to his house. "He's a peacemaker," Woodward said. "I am...

Feds Freed 2K Immigrants, More Than Acknowledged

Associated Press says more were planned before controversy stopped releases

(Newser) - The Homeland Security Department released from its jails more than 2,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation in recent weeks due to looming budget cuts and planned to release 3,000 more during March, the Associated Press has learned. The newly disclosed figures, cited in internal budget documents, are significantly higher...

Sequester Time: Obama Signs Order

Automatic spending cuts of $85B start going into effect

(Newser) - The sequester is here. President Obama has signed an order authorizing the government to begin cutting $85 billion from federal accounts, officially enacting across-the-board reductions that he opposed but failed to avert. This morning's last-minute talks to avert the mess fell through . Obama had insisted on replacing the cuts,...

Sequester Talks Yield ... Zilch

Obama warns of 'dumb, arbitrary' cuts as GOP rejects tax increases

(Newser) - No sequester kumbaya. President Obama and congressional leaders met for an hour this morning and made zero progress on striking a deal to avoid the automatic budget cuts, reports Politico . Their respective statements afterward tell the story:
  • Obama: "Let's be clear: None of this is necessary," he
...

The Sequester Has Arrived
 Sequester Day 
 Has Arrived 
Mar 1, 2013 7:29 AM CST

Sequester Day Has Arrived

At some point today, Obama will have to initiate the cuts

(Newser) - Happy sequester day, America. By 11:59 tonight, Barack Obama will have to formally notify federal agencies that it's time to start implementing across-the-board cuts, barring a last-minute deal that at this point seems wildly improbable. While Congressional leaders will meet at the White House today, there's so...

Sequester Cuts Look Certain as Senate Bills Fail

Last-minute measures had little chance of success

(Newser) - In case you were expecting a sequester miracle: Two separate measures to stem the crisis before tomorrow's deadline failed in the Senate today, as expected . One was from Democrats and the other from Republicans, but both were doomed even before the votes. They were placed in consideration as a...

Senate Makes Limp Efforts to Duck Sequester

But 'it's going to happen' despite votes: Rep.

(Newser) - Today, the Senate will vote on two plans that could potentially avert the sequester—but passage doesn't seem likely, USA Today reports. The Democrats' plan, which focuses on a minimum 30% tax on millionaires as well as defense and farm cuts, lacks the 60 votes it would need to...

Woodward: White House Said I'd 'Regret' Sequester Stance

Calls Obama's approach 'madness'

(Newser) - Bob Woodward's standoff with the White House is heating up: Now the journalist says a top administration official warned him to stop blaming President Obama for the sequester, Business Insider reports. In an email, "it was said very clearly: You will regret doing this," Woodward told CNN...

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