Federal budget cuts set to kick in at the start of the year could decimate Virginia’s services to seniors, pregnant teens, military students and the mentally ill, department heads told Gov. Bob McDonnell.

McDonnell ordered every state agency to prepare plans that would cut up to 4 percent from their budgets in preparation for the possibility that Congress and the White House will miss a end-of-the-year deadline and allow $1 trillion in automatic budget cuts to begin.