The spectre of wide-reaching budget cuts is looming in the US, unless Congress can agree on how to reduce the deficit.

The cuts, dubbed the "sequester," are part of a debt deal that was made two years ago.

If the cuts are not reversed, the military could face a nine percent across-the-board budget cut, about $55bn per year.

As Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan reports from Washington, the Pentagon is leading the fight against the cuts.