The sequester is nearly upon us, and now - finally - the White House and Capitol Hill may be able to get to work. The automatic $85 billion in spending cuts will go into effect when President Obama signs an order, which could happen anytime before 11:59 p.m. Friday. The President is unlikely to sign the order until after he meets with congressional leaders at the White House today. Signs that a deal can be reached before the deadline are dwindling, however. Both chambers of congress have gone home for the weekend and late Thursday, the Senate rejected both a Democratic and Republican proposal to stop the sequester. President Obama was quick to blame republicans for the impasse, and GOP leaders in turn have continued to point the finger at the President as the cause of the so-called crisis. But now that lawmakers have the posturing out of the way and Americans get set to face the effects of the sequester, can the administration and congress finally get down the business. The analysis by some is that the fallout won't be as devastating as initially forecast. And Wall Street and business leaders aren't exactly panicking. Can Washington finally move past a manufactured fiscal disaster and get something done? And when will results come? We’ll try to answer those questions and more when we see you at noon ET on msnbc.
PANEL
Eugene Robinson, Columnist, The Washington Post/msnbc Political Analyst (@eugene_robinson)
Nia Malika Henderson, National Political Reporter, The Washington Post (@niawapo)
John Cassidy, Staff Writer, The New Yorker (@tnyjohncassidy)
Ben Smith, Editor-in-Chief, BuzzFeed (buzzfeedben)
BULLPEN
Chris Hayes, msnbc Host, “UP With Chris Hayes” (@chrislhayes)
REPORTER
John Harwood, CNBC (@johnjharwood)