The president placed blame squarely on Republican lawmakers at a Friday press conference for failing to stop automatic spending cuts that were to begin kicking in later in the day, calling the cuts "dumb, arbitrary."
The president said the impact of the cuts won't immediately be felt, but middle class families will begin to "have their lives disrupted in significant ways."
Obama met for less than an hour Friday morning with House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.
Obama and congressional leaders have agreed that Congress should pass a bill funding the government beyond the end of March while they keep working on a way to replace the spending cuts, Boehner's office said.
"The president got his tax hikes on January 1st," Boehner said bluntly after the meeting with Obama. "The discussion about revenue in my view is over.
McConnell has already drawn a line in the stand and said in a statement released before Friday's meeting that Republicans will not support any last-minute deals and they will not raise taxes.
"Republicans have offered the President numerous solutions, including the flexibility he needs to secure those reductions more intelligently," McConnell said in the statement. "I am happy to discuss other ideas to keep our commitment to reducing Washington spending at today's meeting.
In addition to McConnell, the President meet with House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Vice President Biden will also be at the meeting.
In the days leading up to the deadline, there were few signs that either party had much progress on how to cut the federal debt that now tops $16.5 trillion.
As the White House has come to acknowledge, the impact of the cuts will – for the most part -- not be felt immediately.
Furloughs of government workers will begin several weeks from now. Administration officials say the impact of this and other cuts will build up over time; Obama describes the effect on the economy as a “tumble downward.”
But some fiscal hawks see a silver lining, in that the sequester will force the government to trim the waste in order to shield higher-priority items.
It won’t be a government shutdown but it will be a government slowdown.
“The impact of this policy won’t be felt overnight but it will be real,” Obama said. “The longer these cuts are in place, the greater the damage.”
The predicted impact of the spending cuts could come in flight delays, limited hours at national parks, longer wait times at border crossings and furloughs of civilian Pentagon employees – and workers at several other agencies.
If there’s a big backlash, the Obama administration may take it as vindication that the public won’t stand for big cuts to federally funded programs.
The meeting, the first face-to-face since Obama was sworn in for his second term in January, will essentially look past the current $85 billion in cuts to the next looming fiscal crisis – a possible government shutdown.
On March 27, the fiscal 2013 continuing appropriations resolution expires, cutting off the ability of most agencies and programs to operate.
Following March Madness – budget style – Congress will have two months to decide on the debt limit. The short-term debt limit deal will then raise the borrowing limit the following day, on May 19, to the debt accumulated up through May 18. The short-term extension, approved in January, will allow what budget experts project will be $450 billion in additional borrowing before the debt limit is raised to a new, higher level.
And then, even if no increase in granted by May 19, the Treasury Department will be able to stave off a final day of reckoning until late July or early August by redeploying cash management measures which would allow it to claw back about $220 billion worth of borrowing capacity.
On March 27, the fiscal 2013 continuing appropriations resolution expires, cutting off the ability of most agencies and programs to operate.
Following March Madness – budget style – Congress will have two months to decide on the debt limit. The short-term debt limit deal will then raise the borrowing limit the following day, on May 19, to the debt accumulated up through May 18. The short-term extension, approved in January, will allow what budget experts project will be $450 billion in additional borrowing before the debt limit is raised to a new, higher level.
And then, even if no increase in granted by May 19, the Treasury Department will be able to stave off a final day of reckoning until late July or early August by redeploying cash management measures which would allow it to claw back about $220 billion worth of borrowing capacity.
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