Sequestration due to take effect March 2, would cut $85.3B from 2013 federal budget

Courtesy of Brad Plumer:

On March 2, the sequester spending cuts will start clamping down unless Congress votes to avert them. And on Friday afternoon, the White House explained just how those cuts would work.

The sequester, recall, will cut $85.3 billion from the federal budget in 2013 and affect everything except Social Security, Medicaid, a few targeted anti-poverty programs, and the ongoing wars. The Pentagon budget would face an immediate 7.3 percent cut and domestic discretionary programs would be cut by more than 5 percent.

The key feature of the cuts is that they would affect all agencies and programs equally — federal officials would not be able to pick and choose which programs get protected and which get the ax. The White House fact sheet below lists some examples of programs that would see cuts:  [Note:  Click through to Plumer’s article or on the ‘fact sheet’ link for details.]