Katy O'Donnell,   Sara Sorcher and Meghan McCarthy,  National Journal, today: 

U.S. weapons purchases would be slashed, programs to protect food and water safety would take a hit, and crime-prevention programs would be scaled back if Congress fails to act to prevent automatic cuts known as the sequester from taking effect at the beginning of next year, the White House warned on Friday.

A report by the White House Office of Management and Budgetdescribed sequestration as a "blunt and indiscriminate instrument" and said the cuts would be harmful to the country. They are mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act, which requires across-the-board cuts of $109 billion per year for nine years in an array of government programs. Sequestration will go into effect starting Jan. 2 unless Congress can reach a deficit-reduction deal to head it off.

The cuts would be divided evenly between discretionary domestic and defense spending. Most entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicaid, would be shielded from cuts. Veterans' benefits and unemployment insurance would also be exempted.

A House GOP plan that passed the chamber on a party-line vote earlier this year would have made additional cuts to domestic programs in order to shift more money to defense. Congressional Republicans have stressed the dangers of cutting defense spending, but the primary point of contention between them and Democrats has been over whether revenue increases should be part of any deficit-reduction plan.

The 394-page OMB report includes graphs and tables, but its warnings about the consequences of sequestration were part of a push by the administration to ratchet up pressure on Congress to make a deal on the budget. Among the highlights from the report:

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