U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said there would be harmful, unintended consequences from the $85 billion in sweeping government cuts that took effect Saturday.

Boehner attended the 22nd Annual Eighth District Farm Forum the day after President Barack Obama signed off on the sequester, a measure taken to force lawmakers to compromise on how to solve the $16 trillion deficit.

“These cuts are going to be harmful. They will have unintended consequences,” the West Chester Twp. Republican said in response to questions about what he would say to the families of the Wright-Patterson Air Force employees affected by cuts.

He did not elaborate and did not accept further questions.

Wright-Patt is the largest employer in the Dayton area and the largest single site employer in the state. Base commanders say they are planning 10 percent to 15 percent reductions in operations as a result of sequestration. Reductions include reduced hours for facilities and 22-day furloughs for civilian employees.

Besides affecting the job security of 26,000 civilian Department of Defense employees in Ohio, sequestration cuts take away funding from schools and job search assistance resources, according to the Ohio Democratic Party.

“There are smarter ways to cut spending than the sequestration,” Boehner said at forum, which he attends annually. “Congress acted twice, but the president never offered a plan…it’s clear the president doesn’t want to.”

Boehner said congress would try to reduce the blow of sequestration by working on resolutions such as the Department of Defense Appropriations bill and Veteran Affairs Appropriations bill to give agencies more control over how the cuts affect them.

“Reprogramming authority will allow agencies to reprogram funds from one account to another and move the cuts where they can be made,” Boehner said.

The Ohio Democratic Party criticized Boehner for visiting Ohio during the sequester issue, primarily for holding a fundraiser in Northeast Ohio during a critical time in Washington.

“The President offered to compromise with Republicans and crafted a balanced plan to avoid the sequester and reduce the deficit by more than $4 trillion, meanwhile Speaker Boehner left the negotiating table so he could attend a $10,000 a plate fundraising dinner tonight in Cleveland,” said Jerid Kurtz , ODP spokesperson. “Boehner is more interested in fundraising to protect his own job than fighting to save the jobs of middle-class Ohioans and avoiding the sequester.”