The president hasn’t signed the bill, but if he does, he will have 30 days to submit the plan, and it will immediately become campaign fodder on both sides.
On Tuesday, George Allen, a Virginia Republican seeking to recapture the Senate seat he lost six years ago, visited First Line Technologies in Fairfax County and called for Congress to cancel the spending cuts.
Amit Kapoor, president of the company, said it likely will lose employees if the cuts take effect — though he said the company is small enough to be exempt from the Warn Act, so it won’t send out notices.
He pleaded with Congress to give businesses some certainty.
“Our biggest problem is that we’re looking to hire. We’re in a growth period. This uncertainty is preventing any further growth,” he said.
Republican Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte are making stops around the county to highlight the potential devastation of the cuts.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said most Republicans voted for the budget deal that called for the automatic spending cuts. He said they will have to be willing to raise taxes if they want to head off the cuts.
“We did this because we knew it would be hard,” Mr. Reid said.
On Wednesday, two top administration officials will testify to the House Armed Services Committee about the defense cuts and how they could affect national security.
• Kristina Wong contributed to this report.
© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.
Susan Crabtree is an award-winning investigative reporter with more than 15 years of reporting experience in Washington, D.C. Her reporting about bribery, corruption and conflict-of-interest issues on Capitol Hill has led to several FBI and ethics investigations, as well as consequences for members within their caucuses and at the ballot box. Susan can be reached at scrabtree@washingtontimes.com.
Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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