WASHINGTON (AP) ? The White House is urging Congress to act amid the expected collapse of the deficit-reduction supercommittee that has been tasked with cutting $1.2 trillion in government red ink.
White House press secretary Jay Carney says President Barack Obama put forward a deficit reduction plan in September that could still serve as a roadmap for the supercommittee.
Carney says, “instead of pointing fingers and playing the blame game, Congress should act.”
The panel has until Wednesday to approve a deficit-slashing plan. If it fails, about $1 trillion in automatic across-the-board spending cuts to domestic programs and the Pentagon budget would be triggered beginning in 2013.
Carney says the defense cuts are “deeper than we think is wise” but the White House does not think Congress should undo the so-called “sequester.”