Obama Pressures Congress for Deal to Avert Automatic Cuts

President Barack Obama stepped up pressure on Congress to avert a “brutal” automatic $1.2 trillion in budget cuts set to kick in March 1, saying it would harm the economy and curtail vital services.

Obama said that if the spending reductions take effect, the U.S. may lose hundreds of thousands of jobs, military readiness would be damaged, aid to state and local governments would shrink and the ability of the government to respond to natural disasters or other emergencies would be diminished.