WASHINGTON [updated 4:30 pm]: At an Aerospace Industries Association event to roll out a new report estimating that sequestration would cost the country more than two million jobs in 2013 — one million from Defense cuts, as previously reported, plus another million from cuts to non-defense agencies — Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte and Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen sketched the outlines of a bipartisan compromise to avert sequestration.

The two Senators, both from New Hampshire, still reflected the divide between their parties in differences of emphasis: Ayotte, widely touted as a potential running mate for Mitt Romney, emphasized budget cuts and a stopgap solution to stave off sequestration for a year; Shaheen emphasized revenue increases and a grand bargain. But when pressed by Breaking Defense and other reporters, they each agreed on common ground: Ayotte said she would accept some revenue increases, Shaheen a stopgap deal. Keep reading →