A "Super" Failure

It’s official; the congressional “super-committee” created by this past August’s debt limit deal has failed.

Here’s the statement released late Monday afternoon by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), the co-chairs of the Joint Deficit Reduction Committee:

“After months of hard work and intense deliberations, we have come to the conclusion today that it will not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement available to the public before the committee’s deadline.
“Despite our inability to bridge the committee’s significant differences, we end this process united in our belief that the nation’s fiscal crisis must be addressed and that we cannot leave it for the next generation to solve.  We remain hopeful that Congress can build on this committee’s work and can find a way to tackle this issue in a way that works for the American people and our economy.

“We are deeply disappointed that we have been unable to come to a bipartisan deficit reduction agreement, but as we approach the uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving, we want to express our appreciation to every member of this committee, each of whom came into the process committed to achieving a solution that has eluded many groups before us. Most importantly, we want to thank the American people for sharing thoughts and ideas and for providing support and good will as we worked to accomplish this difficult task.

“We would also like to thank our committee staff, in particular Staff Director Mark Prater and Deputy Staff Director Sarah Kuehl, as well as each committee member’s staff for the tremendous work they contributed to this effort.  We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Douglas Elmendorf and Mr. Thomas Barthold and their teams at the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation, respectively, for the technical support they provided to the committee and its members.”

President Obama, who mainly stayed out of negotiations over the past eight weeks, weighed in Monday evening. Speaking to reporters inside the White House press briefing room, Obama said that one way or another, lawmakers will have to figure out a way to cut the nation’s deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next ten years. If that means that a spree of domestic and defense cuts are triggered in 2013, he said, so be it.

“Already, some in Congress are trying to undo these automatic spending cuts. My message to them is simple; No.”

The president said he would veto any attempt by lawmakers to cancel the sequestration. “There will be no easy off-ramps on this one,” he promised.

This story was updated at 6:05 p.m.