If these deficit targets were not met, the president was required issue a sequestration order to automatically reduce discretionary spending.
[1][2] By October 1990, the president's Office of Management and Budget projected a budget deficit for fiscal year 1991 that exceeded the statutory target; if Congress did not enact a deficit reduction plan, sequestration would have cut discretionary spending by about one-third.
Bush agreed to a bipartisan deficit reduction deal that would achieve roughly $500 billion in savings over five years through a combination of spending cuts and tax increases.
[5][6] Unlike Gramm-Rudman-Hollings, which set fixed deficit targets in hopes of encouraging future Congressional action, the BEA implemented budget controls meant to prevent Congress from taking actions that would increase the deficit.
[10] Discretionary spending caps, as well as deficit reduction targets, were reintroduced by the Budget Control Act of 2011.