RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — It’s a hot-button issue in Virginia’s high-stakes Senate race right now, but “sequestration” stands to devastate Virginia’s economy unless Congress acts in the next few months to avert it.

The issue with its alien-sounding name is Washington shorthand for deep, indiscriminate and automatic cuts to national defense and other federal spending. Virginia would suffer disproportionately because it’s home to major defense sites, including the Pentagon.

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