The White House announced that it will not meet Friday's deadline to make public what plans it will put into place to deal with the massive defense cuts coming at the end of the year.
The announcement comes shortly after President Obama signed into law the Sequestration Transparency Act that requires him to submit a report to Congress detailing the impact of his 'sequester' on defense and non-defense programs – cuts that were triggered after the so-called Super Committee to come up with a debt deal last year.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said the plans for defense cuts will be submitted to Congress by President Obama late next week. The plans should give insight to which defense bases and cities will be impacted by the defense cuts.
Carney accused Republicans of putting the nation at risk over the defense cuts "because of their insistence on preserving a trillion-dollar tax cut for millionaires and billionaires."
But House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, issued a statement following the announcement accusing the president of pushing a campaign agenda.
"The sequester originated from this White House, yet it refuses to level with the American people about the devastating impact it will have on our country," he said.
"By proposing the sequester, the president put his own election campaign ahead of the interests of the country. He has a responsibility and legal obligation to tell the American people how he plans to implement, or replace theses devastating cuts," Boehner said.
"House Republicans have passed legislation to protect our troops by replacing the sequester with common-sense spending cuts and reforms. If the president and Senate Democratic leaders summon the courage to put forth a concrete plan to replace these cuts there's no reason we can't work together to resolve this issue quickly. But doing nothing is shameful and irresponsible."
Carney said there are a lot of factors involved in preparing the report, which is why it will be released next week.
