Republicans are pushing for a deal to consist exclusively of spending slashes. Sequester poll: GOP would be blamed

Nearly half of Americans would blame Republicans if $1.2 trillion in spending cuts go into effect on March 1, according to a poll released Wednesday.

Only 31 percent would blame President Barack Obama, according to the Pew Research Center/USA Today poll, while 49 percent would blame the congressional GOP. Eleven percent would blame both.


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The spending cuts — known as the sequester in Washington-speak — would cut equally from defense and domestic programs across the board. While most of Washington agrees the consequences of the sequester could be disastrous — economists have said it could cause another recession and military leaders have said it would harm national security — efforts to avert it are at a standstill. Obama has said revenue from closing tax loopholes should be included in a deal, while the GOP wants it to consist exclusively of spending slashes.

Republicans get most of the blame despite an all-hands-on-deck effort by the GOP to blame the White House for the sequester, frequently pointing out the idea originated in the executive branch. Most congressional Republicans voted for the sequester as part of 2011’s Budget Control Act.

If Congress and the White House can’t reach a deal to replace the sequester, 49 percent of Americans want them to delay the spending cuts — originally scheduled to happen on Jan. 1 — even further. Forty percent said they should allow the cuts to happen.

While Americans might be willing to delay the spending cuts, they do want a deficit-reduction deal this year. Seven in 10 said it was “essential” for a deficit deal this year, compared with only 51 percent who said the same about immigration and 46 percent who said so about gun legislation.

Republicans might have a small leg up in negotiating a deal. Seventy-six percent said a combination of spending cuts and tax increases should be used to reduce the deficit. But 54 percent said the combination should lean toward cuts. Only 16 percent said it should rely mostly on tax hikes.

The poll of 1,504 adults was conducted from Feb. 13 to Feb. 18. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.