Sequester Fact Sheet

Given the confusion still surrounding how sequester would affect the defense budget, we've put together a fact sheet to provide some numbers to illustrate plausible paths.  Which can be found here.  Unfortunately, these paths are only estimates.  The administration has not yet, nor is likely to, release year by year numbers of their assumption of defense spending, and their assumption would still be a proposal for Congress to dispose of.  Although the BCA includes a formula for determining the reductions required by sequester, the actual amounts won't actually exist until calculated by OMB with updated assumptions and information.  Still, hopefully illustrative paths at least provide a foundation for further discussion.

However, to ensure we take care of the Foreign Affairs side of our program, we have to emphasize that the first effect of no deficit reduction plan is, come January, the Budget Control caps will no longer be firewalled between security/non-security but national defense/non-defense discretionary.  Which puts international affairs on the non-defense discretionary side of the firewall, as it was in the 90s. So the tradespace for both the administration's request (due in February), and the Congressional process does not have international affairs head to head with defense.