[h=3]By PETER NICHOLAS And DAMIAN PALETTA[/h]After warning that across-the-board spending cuts would have catastrophic effects, White House officials are trying to play down fears that people will suffer hardships right away, instead preparing them for a fight that won't be quickly resolved.
In an unsuccessful effort to get Republicans to negotiate over a more gradual deficit-reduction deal, the Obama administration spent weeks warning that the $85 billion in cuts, known as a sequester, would produce profound disruption, including teacher layoffs, flight delays, more porous borders and heightened exposure to terrorist attacks.
But it may be weeks or months before people feel the full force of the cuts. If the sequester doesn't turn out to be as much of a burden as the president advertised, that could weaken a White House that has been portraying the Republicans as an unreasonable partner.
The administration at times has issued warnings about the spending cuts that turned out to be overblown. In a news conference last week, President Barack Obama spoke of janitors and other workers on Capitol Hill getting "a pay cut" because of the sequester. But a Capitol supervisor later told employees their pay and benefits wouldn't be reduced by the cuts.
On Sunday, during an interview on ABC's "This Week," White House economics adviser Gene Sperling noted that the Capitol janitors "will not get as much overtime," adding that "the real issue is that this is, as the president said, a slow grind."
Still, some outside observers warned the White House may have hurt itself just as it tries to advance other policy goals and as the next budget deadline—the need to pass a bill extending routine government funding—looms at the end of this month.
"You can only cry wolf once—maybe twice. They are stuck now with over-inflating the effects and now they have a significant credibility problem," said Lanny Davis, an attorney who specializes in crisis management and a former special counsel to President Bill Clinton.
NBC/ReutersWhite House economic adviser Gene Sperling spoke on NBC's 'Meet the Press' and other shows Sunday.
This week, the president will talk about the sequester, but he won't treat it as a crisis demanding all his time and attention, as he did the 2011 fight over raising the government's borrowing limit. He plans to devote attention to his broader agenda, which includes passage of gun-control legislation and an immigration overhaul, a White House aide said.
White House officials seem to be cooling their rhetoric on the sequester. In an appearance Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," Mr. Sperling said: "Well, there's no question that, on day one, it will not be as harmful as it will be over time."
The White House had devoted ample resources to the dispute, trying to rally public pressure on Republicans. The administration released a paper specifying how each state would be harmed by the cuts. Mr. Obama appeared at campaign-style events warning of the sequester's impact, surrounding himself with first-responders in one instance and shipbuilders in another.
Republican leaders also warned that the sequester would hurt, though they sought to pin the blame on Mr. Obama. "A week from now, a dramatic new federal policy is set to go into effect that threatens U.S. national security, thousands of jobs and more," House Speaker John Boehner wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece last month. "There is nothing wrong with cutting spending that much—we should be cutting even more—but the sequester is an ugly and dangerous way to do it."
People close to the White House said the president can't let himself be consumed by the effort to cancel the budget cuts.
"The Republicans are happily working the clock and hoping the time will run out for the president to get back to the things that he wants to get done for the American people," said Nancy-Ann DeParle, a former White House deputy chief of staff. "He can't let himself be held hostage to this sequester. Most people don't even understand it."
John Podesta, who co-chaired Mr. Obama's 2008-09 transition, said: "They can't let their narrative, their communications and their use of the president's schedule be hostage to the daily saga of who's up and who's down in the sequester."
Some in Congress believe the sequester, coupled with other budget issues, are likely to preoccupy Washington for months.
Lawmakers will take up other issues, but the budget fights are expected to dominate the public discussion and slow progress on other fronts as party leaders scramble to avoid a government shutdown and a default this summer on federal financial obligations.
"I'm hoping that it will not derail our efforts—and it shouldn't—but it's clearly not very helpful," said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R., Fla.), chairman and co-founder of the Congressional Hispanic Conference and one of the lawmakers working on a bipartisan immigration deal in the House. "It takes floor time and it just kind of sucks out the oxygen."
Saturday and Sunday were the first two full days of life under the sequester. Most people noticed no difference—and that may be the case for weeks, at least. Federal agencies are beginning to adjust their budgets, but many of the more substantive changes might not come until April or later.
Miami International Airport has activated a plan to cut overtime pay for employees, but furloughs for airport security and customs personnel might not begin until next month. Similarly, long-term unemployment benefits are expected to be reduced, but not until the end of March or early April. And the sequester's 2% cuts to Medicare payments to health providers will start April 1, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said.
The sequester's effects also will play out differently across the country. Communities heavily dependent on military spending will be among those hard-hit, while other regions may go for weeks or months without a noticeable effect on overall economic activity.
Economies in and around the nation's capital are likely to feel the most pain. Federal spending accounts for about one-fifth of the economic output of Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, according to the Pew Center on the States.
The sequester reduces the spending authority of the federal government by $85 billion through Sept. 30, and then it will keep similar cuts in place for eight more years. It is projected to reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 years.
—Kristina Peterson and Louise Radnofsky contributed to this article.Write to Peter Nicholas at [email protected] and Damian Paletta at [email protected]
In an unsuccessful effort to get Republicans to negotiate over a more gradual deficit-reduction deal, the Obama administration spent weeks warning that the $85 billion in cuts, known as a sequester, would produce profound disruption, including teacher layoffs, flight delays, more porous borders and heightened exposure to terrorist attacks.
But it may be weeks or months before people feel the full force of the cuts. If the sequester doesn't turn out to be as much of a burden as the president advertised, that could weaken a White House that has been portraying the Republicans as an unreasonable partner.
The administration at times has issued warnings about the spending cuts that turned out to be overblown. In a news conference last week, President Barack Obama spoke of janitors and other workers on Capitol Hill getting "a pay cut" because of the sequester. But a Capitol supervisor later told employees their pay and benefits wouldn't be reduced by the cuts.
On Sunday, during an interview on ABC's "This Week," White House economics adviser Gene Sperling noted that the Capitol janitors "will not get as much overtime," adding that "the real issue is that this is, as the president said, a slow grind."
Still, some outside observers warned the White House may have hurt itself just as it tries to advance other policy goals and as the next budget deadline—the need to pass a bill extending routine government funding—looms at the end of this month.
"You can only cry wolf once—maybe twice. They are stuck now with over-inflating the effects and now they have a significant credibility problem," said Lanny Davis, an attorney who specializes in crisis management and a former special counsel to President Bill Clinton.
NBC/ReutersWhite House economic adviser Gene Sperling spoke on NBC's 'Meet the Press' and other shows Sunday.
This week, the president will talk about the sequester, but he won't treat it as a crisis demanding all his time and attention, as he did the 2011 fight over raising the government's borrowing limit. He plans to devote attention to his broader agenda, which includes passage of gun-control legislation and an immigration overhaul, a White House aide said.
White House officials seem to be cooling their rhetoric on the sequester. In an appearance Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," Mr. Sperling said: "Well, there's no question that, on day one, it will not be as harmful as it will be over time."
The White House had devoted ample resources to the dispute, trying to rally public pressure on Republicans. The administration released a paper specifying how each state would be harmed by the cuts. Mr. Obama appeared at campaign-style events warning of the sequester's impact, surrounding himself with first-responders in one instance and shipbuilders in another.
Republican leaders also warned that the sequester would hurt, though they sought to pin the blame on Mr. Obama. "A week from now, a dramatic new federal policy is set to go into effect that threatens U.S. national security, thousands of jobs and more," House Speaker John Boehner wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece last month. "There is nothing wrong with cutting spending that much—we should be cutting even more—but the sequester is an ugly and dangerous way to do it."
People close to the White House said the president can't let himself be consumed by the effort to cancel the budget cuts.
"The Republicans are happily working the clock and hoping the time will run out for the president to get back to the things that he wants to get done for the American people," said Nancy-Ann DeParle, a former White House deputy chief of staff. "He can't let himself be held hostage to this sequester. Most people don't even understand it."
John Podesta, who co-chaired Mr. Obama's 2008-09 transition, said: "They can't let their narrative, their communications and their use of the president's schedule be hostage to the daily saga of who's up and who's down in the sequester."
Some in Congress believe the sequester, coupled with other budget issues, are likely to preoccupy Washington for months.
Lawmakers will take up other issues, but the budget fights are expected to dominate the public discussion and slow progress on other fronts as party leaders scramble to avoid a government shutdown and a default this summer on federal financial obligations.
"I'm hoping that it will not derail our efforts—and it shouldn't—but it's clearly not very helpful," said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R., Fla.), chairman and co-founder of the Congressional Hispanic Conference and one of the lawmakers working on a bipartisan immigration deal in the House. "It takes floor time and it just kind of sucks out the oxygen."
Saturday and Sunday were the first two full days of life under the sequester. Most people noticed no difference—and that may be the case for weeks, at least. Federal agencies are beginning to adjust their budgets, but many of the more substantive changes might not come until April or later.
Miami International Airport has activated a plan to cut overtime pay for employees, but furloughs for airport security and customs personnel might not begin until next month. Similarly, long-term unemployment benefits are expected to be reduced, but not until the end of March or early April. And the sequester's 2% cuts to Medicare payments to health providers will start April 1, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said.
The sequester's effects also will play out differently across the country. Communities heavily dependent on military spending will be among those hard-hit, while other regions may go for weeks or months without a noticeable effect on overall economic activity.
Economies in and around the nation's capital are likely to feel the most pain. Federal spending accounts for about one-fifth of the economic output of Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, according to the Pew Center on the States.
The sequester reduces the spending authority of the federal government by $85 billion through Sept. 30, and then it will keep similar cuts in place for eight more years. It is projected to reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 years.
—Kristina Peterson and Louise Radnofsky contributed to this article.Write to Peter Nicholas at [email protected] and Damian Paletta at [email protected]