Speaker of the House John Boehner has questioned the Obama administration’s truthfulness when it comes to how it is implementing sequester cuts to its own budget.
In an interview with CNBC’s Larry Kudlow on Wednesday, Boehner implied that the White House is being less than candid with respect to the cuts and also charged that the decision to shut down White House tours was made for purely political reasons.
“The president is trying to make it tough on members of Congress,” the Ohio Republican told Kudlow.
“It's just silly. I want to know who is being laid off at the White House. The Capitol is open for tours. We've been planning for this for months,” said Boehner.
According to an administration official, cuts will be applied to all but the most urgent purchases of supplies while responses to public correspondence, and updates to the White House website could potentially be affected.
In addition, the administration is also considering pay cuts, furloughs, a hiring slowdown and/or a hiring freeze.
Obama spokesman Josh Earnest likened the situation at the White House to any other federal agency dealing with the effects of sequestration in a statement to Politico.
“Like other federal agencies, the White House is subject to the sequester and is taking the necessary steps to comply with the law,” Earnest said.
“While we’re concerned about the impact it will have on our ability to both handle our official, daily responsibilities and respond to emergencies, we’re focused on finding a balanced approach to ending the sequester because of the impact that it has on middle class families, the nation’s economy and our military readiness,” he added.
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