Sequestration has now been in effect for more than a week and its impact is already being felt on the local level.
"It's affecting us," said Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, N.J., on Weekends with Alex Witt. "It may not be dramatic right now but when I talk to the U.S. Attorney's office, who's one of my partners in fighting crime, and see him having to deliver furlough notices to employees, that's going to weaken our ability to create those partnerships that ultimately create safety in my community."
President Obama called on members of both parties Saturday to resolve the across-the-board budget cuts that took effect March 1 so the U.S. economy can continue to create jobs.
"It is brunt, brutal and blind, and not the way you would have done it if people had come together in an intelligent fashion to figure out the best way to reduce government," Booker told msnbc's Alex Witt.