The Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA; P.L. 112-25 ), signed into law by President Barack Obama on August 2, 2011, provided for an increase in the statutory limit on the public debt in conjunction with a variety of measures to reduce the budget deficit. These measures included the creation of a Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, which was tasked to develop and submit a plan to Congress containing deficit reduction to total at least $1.2 trillion over the FY2012-FY2021 period. However, because the committee did not report out recommendations and therefore no deficit reduction plan became law by January 15, 2012, the BCA's automatic spending reduction process was triggered. Proposals to Replace the FY2013 Sequester

Some Members of Congress have offered proposals for repealing or modifying the automatic spending reductions before they go into effect. The President's FY2013 budget proposal eliminates the automatic spending reductions for all nine years and replaces them with alternative measures to reduce the deficit. The Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act ( H.R. The largest of these proposals include allowing the 2001/2003/2010 tax cuts for single filers making over $200,000 and married joint filers making over $250,000 to expire; savings generated from changes to Medicare, Medicaid, agriculture, and other mandatory programs; and placing caps on spending for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). Together, this proposal totals $2,221 billion more in deficit reduction (see Table 1 ) than what would be achieved by the BCA's automatic spending reduction process between FY2012 and FY2022. The legislation would cancel the sequester of approximately $98 billion in discretionary defense, discretionary non-defense, and mandatory defense FY2013 funding scheduled to take place on January 2, 2013. 5652 would lower the current FY2013 cap on discretionary budget authority set by the BCA of $1,047 billion to $1,028 billion and would cut other mandatory non-defense programs. If enacted, this measure would reduce the deficit by $262 billion more than what would be achieved by the BCA's FY2013 automatic spending reductions over the FY2012-FY2022 period (see Table 2 ). This measure was passed by the House on May 10, 2012, by a vote of 218-199. On December 20, 2012, the House passed the Spending Reduction Act of 2012 ( H.R. H.R. 5652

Representative Chris Van Hollen proposed a substitute amendment to H.R. His proposal would have replaced the entire FY2013 sequester with a series of revenue increases and spending reductions. If enacted, this measure would reduce the deficit by $30 billion more than what would be achieved by the BCA's FY2013 automatic spending reductions over the FY2012-FY2022 period (see Table 2 ). This measure was not made in order by the House Rules Committee, and therefore was not offered. 6365)

On September 13, the House passed the National Security and Job Protection Act ( H.R. 6365 ), introduced by Representative Allen West, by a vote of 223-196. The act cancels the FY2013 sequester on discretionary defense, discretionary non-defense, and mandatory defense contingent upon enactment of H.R. 5652 , or an alternative measure that would achieve outlay reductions equal to those to be achieved by the FY2013 sequester in those categories. The act requires the President, with the assistance of OMB and federal agencies, in consultation with the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, to submit a "detailed" report within 30 days of enactment containing the uniform percentage reduction and dollar amount reductions for each account, and each program, project, and activity (PPA) within those accounts, required under the sequestration scheduled to occur on January 2, 2013. The STA report was released on September 14, 2012.
The Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA; P.L. 112-25) provided for an increase in the statutory limit on the public debt in conjunction with a variety of measures to reduce the budget deficit. Included in these measures was the creation of a Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, which was tasked to develop and submit a plan to Congress containing deficit reduction to total at least $1.2 trillion over the FY2012-FY2021 period. However, because the committee did not report out recommendations, the BCA's automatic spending reduction process was triggered. This process is set to begin on January 2, 2013.
Both President Obama and some Members of Congress have offered proposals for repealing or modifying the automatic spending reductions. The President's FY2013 Budget Proposal eliminates the automatic spending reductions for all nine years and replaces them with alternative measures to reduce the deficit. The largest of these proposals include allowing the 2001/2003/2010 tax cuts for singles making over $200,000 and households making over $250,000 to expire; savings generated from changes to Medicare, Medicaid, agriculture, and other mandatory programs; and placing caps on spending on Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). Together, this proposal totals $2,221 billion more in deficit reduction than what would be achieved by the BCA's automatic spending reduction process between FY2012 and FY2022.
The Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012 (H.R. 5652), agreed to by the House on May 10, 2012, would cancel the sequester of approximately $98 billion in discretionary defense, discretionary non-defense, and mandatory defense FY2013 funding scheduled to take place on January 2, 2013; would lower the current FY2013 cap on discretionary budget authority set by the BCA of $1,047 billion to $1,028 billion; and would cut other mandatory non-defense programs. If enacted, this measure would reduce the deficit by $262 billion more than what would be achieved by the BCA's FY2013 automatic spending reductions over the FY2012 to FY2022 period. A similar proposal, the Spending Reduction Act of 2012 (H.R. 6684), was also passed by the House on December 20, 2012.
Representative Chris Van Hollen offered a substitute amendment to H.R. 5652. His proposal would replace the entire FY2013 sequester with a series of revenue increases and spending reductions. If enacted, this measure would reduce the deficit by $30 billion more than what would be achieved by the BCA's FY2013 automatic spending reductions over the FY2012 to FY2022 period. This measure was not made in order by the House Rules Committee.
On September 13, the House passed the National Security and Job Protection Act (H.R. 6365), introduced by Representative Allen West, by a vote of 223-196. The act cancels the FY2013 sequester on discretionary defense, discretionary non-defense, and mandatory defense contingent upon enactment of H.R. 5652, or an alternative measure that would achieve outlay reductions equal to those to be achieved by the FY2013 sequester in those categories. This legislation was determined by CBO to not have a budgetary impact.
In addition to the measures proposed above to replace the BCA's automatic spending cuts, President Obama signed into law the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012 (H.R. 5872) on August 7, 2012. This legislation requires OMB, in consultation with the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, to submit a detailed report within 30 days of enactment containing information on how the BCA's FY2013 automatic spending reductions will affect each non-exempt program, project, and activity. The STA report was released on September 14, 2012.