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ALBANY — In frustration, the Capital Region's congressional delegation will move back to the drawing board in a new year, hoping to pare at least $1.2 trillion from federal deficits over the next decade after the bipartisan supercommittee failed to agree on a course of action.

The 12-person committee was formed in August when Congress agreed to raise the nation's borrowing limit by as much as $2.5 trillion in exchange for roughly $2.2 trillion in deficit reduction — most of which was to be handled by the committee.

The result will be $1.2 trillion in "sequestration" spending cuts designed to be revolting to both parties. But by design, they don't take effect immediately — leaving lawmakers another chance.

"The closer you get to these severe cuts that come into effect and the tax increases that will occur in January 2013, the more it will push people together to come up with an agreement," Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said at an unrelated news conference in Colonie.

He said those cuts are a "very sharp knife" and must be avoided. Of course, that was the point in setting the Monday deadline, with congressional leaders betting that it would be harder to reach a compromise as the 2012 elections loomed.

The committee was hatched after a summer-long dispute over raising the debt limit that brought the federal government to the cusp of a shutdown and prompted a credit downgrade.

The struggle depressed congressional approval ratings to less than 15 percent, where they remain, according to a RealClearPolitics.com average. And it prompted fresh criticism this week from local leaders like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who said the committee's failure is a "damning indictment of Washington's inability to govern this country."

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday said "everybody failed," delivering a "terrible blow" that will only exacerbate the "confidence deficit and the trust deficit." He warned sequestration cuts would cost the state $5 billion in federal funding over 10 years.

Perhaps because of such criticism, none of the region's representatives pointed fingers in their reaction to the committee failure.

"I didn't think it was going to work," said Rep. Paul D. Tonko, D-Amsterdam, who voted against the bill that created the process.

"Washington doesn't get it. The system is broken," he said. "I think what would have made a difference here is getting the public engaged. When they went into a 12-person huddle ... there should have been light on the discussions so it was done with the full awareness of the public."

Rep. Chris Gibson, a Kinderhook Republican who is serving his first term in elective office after a 24-year military career, said that now as then, "I didn't accept mission failure as an option."

"Now is the time to redouble our efforts," Gibson said. He would support a package with cuts, but acknowledged there must be "tax reform that is pro-growth, that raises additional revenue" by closing "so-called loopholes. We can find ways to close them to make our rates more competitive."

Tonko said the final plan must be "balanced," an assessment that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a fellow Democrat, echoed in a statement.

But Schumer was confident the changing political landscape would prompt success next year.

"I think what's going to happen is there's going to be public pressure to come to the middle," he said. "The primaries will be over — primaries push people to the extremes, but general elections push people more to the middle. I think we will be able to get an agreement sometime in 2012."

Reach Vielkind at 454-5081 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .