that time is running out. chief washington correspondent jim angle has that report. reporter: hello, megyn. well, although the supercommittee has less than a month to find spending cuts, director elmendorf, as you said, made it clear today it needs to happen somewhere near the first of november which would be next week. and if committee doesn t find $1.2 trillion in savings, then automatic cuts go into effect, half in domestic spending and half in defense which many lawmakers hope to avoid. meanwhile, lawmakers of both parties were making their arguments about what to cut with democrats suggesting too much has already been cut from domestic spending. congress has gone to this relatively small pot with cuts and spending caps again and again while leaving many other pieces of the budget essentially untouched. reporter: but the republican co-chair pointed to massive growth in government over the last two years even as the recession dragged on.
epa has grown 130.8%, the energy department has grown 170.7% with the stimulus, education has grown 180.6% at a time when the economy has actually seen negative economic growth, and family paychecks have shrunk. reporter: and republicans along with many democrats argue defense cannot bear any more cuts. director elmendorf made clear whatever the committee does to cut defense or nondefense spending, the bigger threat is unsustainable spending in into it elements such as medicare. mandatory spending is a growing share of federal outlays, in some cases growing rather rapidly. and without addressing that path to spending, it would be extremely difficult to put the budget on a sustainable path. reporter: but liberal democrats held a rally today, megyn, to say they won t support any plan that includes any cuts in entitlements whether they