Lawmakers’ political wrangling could cost Americans hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The $1.2 trillion across-the-board spending cuts scheduled to take place in March if Congress does nothing, could result in the loss of 750,000 jobs in 2013, Douglas Elmendorf, the director of the Congressional Budget Office told lawmakers Wednesday.

“We think that would reduce the level of employment by the end of the year [by] about 750,000 jobs,” Elmendorf said in the hearing, according to BuzzFeed.

The so-called sequester can be avoided if Congress comes up with an $85 billion alternative by March 1. Republicans are insisting the deal not raise taxes, while Democrats say a deal must include revenue increases, not just spending cuts.

President Obama fueled the battle during his State of the Union address Tuesday, accusing Republicans of shifting the possible cuts from defense and military spending to social programs.