In Today’s Times:
The sequester, an $85 billion round of automatic spending cuts, is set to start kicking in on Friday after the White House and Congress failed to reach an agreement on taxes and spending. Jonathan Weisman writes that hope for compromises faded further on Thursday, when the Senate voted down competing House and Senate measures designed to replace the sequester. Congress has left for the weekend, but President Obama and Republican and Democratic leaders on the Hill are scheduled to meet Friday morning at the White House.
The sequester becomes law on Friday, but Michael D. Shear explains that it could take weeks for most Americans to feel the impact. Right now, though, the specifics of who will feel the cuts, and when, are quite murky.
The resolve Speaker John A. Boehner has shown n the latest round of fiscal talks has firmed up his support among House Republicans. Ashley Parker writes that rank-and-file Republicans are pleased with Mr. Boehner’s decision to stop negotiating with the White House and Congressional Democrats and instead give them an ultimatum: allow the sequester to take effect or put forth a viable Senate plan.
The Obama administration took a side in the legal battle over same-sex marriage in California on Thursday by appealing to the Supreme Court to overturn the state’s ban on such unions, John Schwartz and Adam Liptak report. The Justice Department argues that the ban violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause, but stops short of asking the court to overturn all such bans nationwide.
The president is set to sign legislation that wou! ld reauthorize and broaden the Violence Against Women Act, after the House approved a Senate-passed measure on Thursday. Ashley Parker writes that the measure’s passage “underscored the divide in the Republican Party as it struggles to regain its footing with women after its 2012 electoral drubbing among female voters.â€
Charlie Savage explains how a Supreme Court decision to gut or strike down the centerpiece of the Voting Rights Act could affect oversight of voting law changes in states and localities. The court is expected to issue its ruling on a challenge to the law this summer.
Pfc. Bradley E. Manning awaits sentencing afte pleading guilty Thursday to handing over classified government files to the antisecrecy group WikiLeaks. Charlie Savage reports that Private Manning faces what could be a lengthy prison sentence for actions the soldier said were meant to “make the world a better place.â€
Happening in Washington:
Economic reports expected Friday include personal spending and incomes for January at 8:30 a.m., and at 10 a.m., construction spending for January and the manufacturing index for February.
