Va gov to Obama: Don't let sequestration happen

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The governor of Virginia is asking President Barack Obama in a letter to make good on his campaign pledge to avert automatic cuts to federal spending that would disproportionately damage Virginia.

Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell says the threat of cuts from the 2011 Budget Control Act is already harming Virginia. But unless Obama and Congress agree on their own cuts before March 1, cuts known as the sequester would drain $85 billion from the government's budget over the coming seven months.

Virginia would feel the proportionately heaviest burden of any state. It has a heavy concentration of military assets, including the Pentagon and the world's largest U.S. Navy base at Norfolk, as well as defense and civilian government contractors.