Obama Rolls Back $5 Billion in Sequester Cuts

The White House budget office is using an obscure budget rule to restore $5 billion in sequester-related cuts.

The recalculation trick will mean the State Department will no longer have to furlough employees, will spare the Pentagon $4 billion in cuts to the rate of spending growth, and will replenish $1 billion to the budgets of agencies including the Homeland Security Department and NASA.

The Obama Administration’s move to roll back the sequester cuts reduces the original $85 billion sequestration to $80 billion.

According to the Associated Press, “Republicans atop the budget committees declined to criticize the move. Republicans like Sen. John McCain of Arizona have sought to reverse cuts to the Pentagon– and it benefits the most from the new math.”