Todd Harrison, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, explained that, in short, the Defense Department gets sequestered to get below the cap, and then there is a "penalty sequestration" on top of that. Otherwise, Harrison noted, Congress could get around the larger sequester cut by simply appropriating $54 billion above the cap.
After months of saying they were focused on finding a deal, administration officials have acknowledged recently that planning for sequestration has begun. But the defense official would not comment specifically on what programs would be affected by this additional cut.
The additional cuts, the official added, make a "significant difference. It pushes a couple of things over the threshold."