Nearly 200 companies and special interests have registered to lobby the 12-member congressional supercommittee charged with reducing the deficit. The supercommittee has been working in secrecy for three months to find $1.2 trillion in savings by Thanksgiving or face steep automatic cuts to defense and nondefense spending. The lobbyists, from health care, defense, transportation, and other industries, are pressing lawmakers to spare their clients, even as the committee faces mounting pressure to make massive cuts. Failure “would lead to substantial risk of a downgrade, which would have serious consequences for jobs and our economy,” said a GOP aid.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Libya's 'curious' football cup, played in Italy to empty stadiumsUnder The Radar 'Curious collaboration' saw Al-Ahli Tripoli crowned league champions in Milan before a handful of spectators
-
What taxes do you pay on a home sale?The Explainer Some people — though not many — will need to pay capital gains taxes upon selling their home
-
Schools: The return of a dreaded fitness testFeature Donald Trump is bringing the Presidential Fitness Test back to classrooms nationwide
