Nature:
Last August Congress and the White House passed the
Budget
Control Act, which set a
dateâmdash;2 January
2013âmdash;by which either lawmakers figure
out a way to reduce the deficit, or automatic cuts will be
applied across all programs. If the latter, called
"sequestration," occurs, science programs could be especially
hard hit. Because of ambiguity in how the sequestration would
be carried out, the House of Representatives recently passed
"transparency" legislation requiring that President Obama
specify how the cuts are to be applied. If the Senate passes a
parallel bill, the administration will need to provide details
within 30 days.
