WASHINGTON – A top Navy official says without a budget deal by the congressional deadline in March, a famed Navy and Marine Corps flight team could be grounded.
According to Paul D. Shinkman of U.S. News & World Report, aerial performances by the Blue Angels could be canceled from March 1 through the rest of the year if the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration are not avoided.
That’s based upon a brief from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert obtained by U.S. News, which speaks of prospective programs that would lose funding if the cuts take effect.
The sequestration deadline was supposed to be Jan. 1, but was delayed to March as part of legislation enacted to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff.” The cuts would be for an estimated $85 billion through Sept. 30, divided evenly between defense and domestic programs.
Performances scheduled for the Blue Angels later this year include air shows in Ocean City, Md., as well as at the U.S. Naval Academy and Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter.
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