WASHINGTON – The federal government will start cutting spending as early as Saturday, with President Barack Obama and congressional leaders unable to bridge their fundamental disagreement over spending and taxes.

About the only thing the leaders who met at the White House for less than an hour agreed on: It’s the other party’s fault.

The administration has warned for weeks that the spending cuts – known in Washington as sequestration – will cause delays in air traffic, prompt teacher layoffs and hamper food inspections. But the White House has been accused of overstating the effects, and Obama said Friday that the $85 billion slice in federal spending, though painful for a still-recovering economy, will be survivable.