Obama Proposes to End Sequestration
January 30, 2015
In his 2016 budget proposal to be released next Monday, President Barack Obama will propose ending sequestration cuts that have damaged the middle class and hampered scientific discoveries, job creation, progress in education, among other things. Sequestration began in 2013 and was scheduled to end in 2021.
As part of his middle class economics, which he made a case for during his State of the Union address last week, the president wants to boost the economy and help middle-class families by investing $74 billion above the sequestration levels -- $38 billion more for the defense account and $37 billion more for the non-defense account, according to news reports. Obama previewed his plans at a retreat in Philadelphia on Thursday.
The president’s budget proposal “will fully reverse those cuts for domestic priorities, and match those investments dollar-for-dollar with the resources our troops need to keep America safe,” said an administration official.
Sequestration has resulted in furloughs of federal employees and a reduction of 100,000 federal jobs over the last two years.
Read President Obama’s blog on his Blueprint for Middle Class Economics here.
