Obama and cronies invented this sequester, and he threatened to veto any bill which interrupted the automatic reductions in planned spending.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: “Already, some in Congress are trying to undo these automatic spending cuts. My message to them is simple: No. I will veto any effort to get rid of those automatic spending cuts to domestic and defense spending. There will be no easy off ramps on this one. We need to keep the pressure up to compromise – not turn off the pressure”
Obama signed the Sequester bill on August 2, 2011, and this LAW started cutting in 2012.  It scheduled  additional reductions  (totalling 1.2 trillion) yearly over 10 years, with $85 billion in reduction planned for 2013. The president has a great deal of discretion in determining where the cuts will be.

Now Obama has turned against this plan that he originated way back in 2011, and is blaming it on the Republicans.

Sequestration amounts to about $85 billion reduction in the spending increase slated for this year. One half of that is for the defense dept. It means that spending for the affected areas will only go up about 6-8 percent instead of going up 8-10 percent as baseline budgeting dictates.

To put this 85 billion sequestration for 2013 in perspective:

The government spends $3.5 trillion per year.

The government spent $50 billion on Tropical Storm Sandy relief.

The government spent $30 billion on extension of unemployment.

There is an estimated 44 billion in improper medicare payments yearly.

The federal reserve  prints $85 billion per MONTH and props up Wall Street with it.