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Sequestration Averted for Now

Posted By Casey Dreier

2013/01/02 12:28 CST

Topics: Space Policy

The House of Representatives passed a bill last night to permanently extend the Bush tax cuts for families making less than $450,000, extend emergency unemployment benefits for another year, and delay implementation of Sequestration, the across-the-board cuts to all federal agencies, for two months.

This means that NASA will not suffer a $1.4 billion cut today, $100 million of which would have come from the Planetary Sciences division, which already faces a cut in the proposed 2013 budget.

Again, this law only delays implementation of sequestration until March 1st, so expect a repeat of this drama in the coming months. Only if Congress can agree on a separate package of cuts totaling $1.2 trillion over the next decade will sequestration be rendered null.