The mechanism of sequestration was originally conceived of more than a quarter century ago. It was designed to force Congress to deal with rising federal debt and budget deficits and, should that fail, to automatically cut funding to government agencies and programs. The sequester made its legislative debut in the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, known as Gramm-Rudman-Hollings (GRH), after the three senators who authored the legislation. Until this year, the only significant implementation of a sequester in the law’s history was the year after its enactment, in 1986.
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