The Republican and Democratic leaders of the so-called “supercommittee” are set to declare defeat after three months of talks failed to bridge deep divides over taxes and spending. The supercommittee’s inability to reach a deal will trigger $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts over 10 years to military and domestic programs, starting in 2013. Democrats have blamed Republicans for their unwillingness to yield on a no-new-taxes pledge. Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the co-chairwoman of the supercommittee, appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

Patty Murray, supercommittee co-chairwoman: “As long as we have some Republican lawmakers who feel more enthralled with a pledge they took to a Republican lobbyist than they do to a pledge to the country to solve the problems, this is going to be hard to do.”