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OMB tells agencies it will begin consulting on sequester
One day before the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will testify in Congress Wednesday about implementing sequestration, OMB issued guidance to federal agencies saying it will begin consulting with them on the automatic spending cuts set to take effect in January.
The memo still said little about specifics — something lawmakers in Congress are calling for from the administration — reiterating that “the president remains confident Congress will act” to reverse sequestration.
Lawmakers have criticized the Obama administration, and specifically OMB and the Pentagon, for not planning for the sequester cuts that are five months away. Congress passed a law earlier this month that requires the administration to issue reports on the impact of the $500 billion in cuts to both defense and non-defense spending.
House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) will have acting OMB Director Jeffrey Zients appear before the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday, where he’s expected to hear complaints from Republicans that the Obama administration is ignoring the potential cuts.
Zients wrote that agencies should continue normal spending and operations "since more than 5 months remain for Congress to act.”
The administration had said earlier this year that it was not planning for the cuts because it wanted Congress to reverse them, but OMB officials have slowly acknowledged they are doing some planning.
Zients told the agencies that OMB would consult with them on the sequestration cuts, writing that the agency will “be holding discussions on these issues with you and your staff over the coming months.”
Zients said that they would consult on topics including application
to agency accounts and exemptions from sequestration.
He said that the reporting requirements in the congressional bill were unrelated to the implementation of the cuts.
