House to demand transparency from Obama on 'sequester' cuts

The House is expected to pass legislation next week that would require the Obama administration to provide details about what programs it plans to cut, and how much, to comply with the mandatory cuts it must make to 2013 spending levels.

The Sequestration Transparency Act, H.R. 5872, is a Republican bill meant to pressure the administration to reveal how it plans to deal with $109 billion in mandatory spending cuts in 2013, a requirement agreed to in last year's debt-ceiling agreement. Republicans have said the administration has so far given them no indication of how the cuts would be made, which includes cuts to mandatory programs like Medicare, but also the Defense Department.

"This is a bill that will bring needed transparency to the administration's process for implementing devastating cuts to our national defense and many social programs on Jan. 2," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Thursday.

Under the bill, the administration would have to report to Congress on how it plans to make the cuts. The bill is also likely meant as a way for Republicans to pressure the White House to reach some agreement on a way to avoid the required cuts.

In May, the House approved a bill that would avoid $72 billion in cuts to the Pentagon and non-defense spending required by sequestration. The Sequester Replacement Act also made $315 billion in new cuts, but left mandatory sequester cuts in place.

Cantor said he hopes to bring up the Sequester Transparency Act under a suspension of House rules next week.

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