Appropriations

The State department had called for a "serious and sustained commitment from Congress" to address security after the attack.

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Both chambers of Congress will be back this week with sequestration in place and a government shutdown possible in just a matter of weeks.

When lawmakers return to work, they will be back after having failed to strike a deal to avoid at least the beginning of $85 billion in indiscriminate spending cuts known as sequestration.

While the deadline will have come and gone, the cuts themselves will only just be beginning, with many of the most dramatic parts, like furloughs of federal employees, still several weeks away. As a result, Congress will still have time to craft a replacement package if it chooses.

Meanwhile, Capitol Hill leaders will also have to turn their attention to the next looming deadline. On March 27, the government will shut down unless Congress can put together a continuing resolution to keep it funded.

The White House has issued a new memo guiding agencies on how to implement the $85 billion in budget cuts.

An administration statement says the measure attempts to shift focus away from Congress and "protect tax loopholes for the wealthy."

“If we get the CR at the post-sequester level that is a big win," says Rep. Jim Jordan.

A proposal that would give President Obama more flexibility to carry out sequester cuts is being met with resistance

By not filling low-priority positions, senator says government could save some employees from furloughs.

Congress returns for what promises to be a frenetic final week before the sequester hits, with no compromise in sight between the two parties.

President Obama spent the last week with Congress out of session hitting Republicans on the automatic spending cuts, and is demanding tax revenue be part of any replacement, while the GOP contends that they’ve come up with an acceptable alternative made up entirely of cuts.

This week the Senate will likely be occupied by dueling proposals to replace the $85 billion in cuts set to take effect on March 1, but it remains to be seen whether the two parties will scramble for a last-ditch compromise before Friday.

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Graham argued the cuts would "unvravel" the U.S. military, while Paul said sequestration was not "a real cut in spending."

A leading Republican opponent of sequestration on Friday conceded that cuts to the Pentagon are likely to be triggered in March despite his warnings about dire consequences for the military.

Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the question now facing lawmakers is how long the sequestered cuts will stay on the books.

"Sequester is going to kick in and as people see what it is ... that will hopefully force us" to come up with a solution for stopping them, McKeon told reporters during a breakfast in Washington.

He said lawmakers have "locked ourselves" into sequestration due to the impasse over how to replace the more than $1 trillion in automatic budget cuts that are coming over 10 years.

"We are going to be forced into it," McKeon said. "We have just not been able to get past the politics of it [all]."