The House Budget Committee, chaired by Paul Ryan (R-WI), marked up two bills Monday, both of which addressed eliminating the sequester mandated under the 2011 Budget Control Act.
The first legislation considered by members was the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act. Under the bill, introduced by Chairman Ryan, automatic cuts to defense and social programs set to take effect in 2013 would be replaced with budget reduction recommendations from the Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform and Ways and Means Committees.
Sequestration was triggered under the Budget Control Act after the Congressional Joint Deficit Reduction Committee failed to find an additional $1.2T in cuts.
The House Budget Committee took a break for votes and then resumed its markup of the Sequestration Replacement Act of 2012. Under it, language in the 2011 Budget Control Act requiring the automatic cuts in 2013 would be eliminated.