Obama administration cabinet officials testified on the impact of sequestration on their departments. Some of the services that would be cut included Agriculture Department inspections, airport customs, special education programs, and Transportation Security Administration agents. Secretary Donovan said that veterans receiving housing assistance would be displaced. Secretary Napolitano said that maintaining national security would be huge problem. Travelers passing through customs would face longer wait times. Mr. Werfel said that food inspections would be cut, leading to greater economic pressures and rising food prices. 
“Sequestration,” a legal procedure in which every federal agency has the same percentage of its budget cut in order to take back deficit spending, was agreed to in the Budget Control Act of 2011 and scheduled to happen on March 1, 2013.