Democratic Rep. Adam Smith has a message for House Republicans: Stop talking about sequestration and start doing something about it.
Smith, from Washington, is the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, and he's telling the chairman -- Republican Buck McKeon of California -- he's doubtful another hearing about the effects of next year's across-the-board budget cuts would accomplish much/.../
There are opportunity costs associated with devoting all of this time to sequestration, said Todd Harrison, a budget analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
Pentagon planners have to spend their time worrying about it rather than performing their other oversight roles like trying to get the Pentagon to be able to pass an audit or plan the next budget, which is due in February, Harrison said.
And you have reporters chasing the sequestration story, which means less time covering other national security issues.
"Sequestration is sucking all of the oxygen out of Washington," Harrison said. "Until sequestration gets resolved, nothing else matters in the budget."