Boehner: Time for Senate to pass sequester bill

Published February 28, 2013 5:22pm ET



WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner says his message to President Obama at Friday’s White House meeting will be simple: It’s time for the Senate to pass a bill to avoid automatic spending cuts known as the sequester.

Boehner said Thursday that House Republicans have twice passed bills to replace the automatic cuts with more targeted reductions. Both bills were passed in the previous Congress, so the House would have to pass them again for either to become law.

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Don’t look for that to happen. Boehner said the House shouldn’t have to pass a third bill before the Senate passes one. The Senate was scheduled to vote on competing bills Thursday but neither was expected to pass.

The sequester takes effect Friday, the day Obama is to meet with congressional leaders.