Yes, the sequestration was the President's idea. The "idea" was to impose cuts so horrible to both sides, that they would be forced to sit at the budget table and talk. We see how that worked out...
The House still put off talks for months, refusing to assign budget committees (the Senate assigned theirs) so that they had a "forcing mechanism" (GOP words, my friends).
The Senate has not dealt with the budget for years.
Timeline
April 29, 2009 – The last time the Democrat-led Senate adopted a budget resolution. Also the last time the Majority brought a budget plan to the floor.
April 22, 2010 – The Budget Committee completes action on a mark-up and reports a budget out of committee, but the Democrat majority chooses to keep its own plan from being offered on the Senate floor. This is the last time the Majority conducted a legally required markup.
May 17, 2011 – Despite missing the statutory deadline for a budget to be passed out of the Budget Committee, Chairman Conrad delays the unveiling of his budget for FY 2012, announcing that “I’ll say something later — not today, probably… There are a lot of conversations under way.”
April 15 – The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passes its budget for FY 2012, which cuts $6 trillion in comparison to the president’s budget.
May 18 – Majority Leader Reid says it would be “foolish” for Senate Democrats to offer a budget.
May 19 – Chairman Conrad cancels a planned committee mark-up, announcing he will not reveal a budget to the public until after such time as the Gang of Six produces a proposal.
May 25 – The Senate rejects President Obama’s FY 2012 budget by a vote of 0-97.
May 23 – Senator Schumer, when asked why there is no alternative to the House-passed budget, answers, “To put other budgets out there is not the point.”
June 7 – Even some Senate Democrats become anxious about their party’s lack of a budget.
June 29 – Chairman Conrad tells Politico, “Senate Democrats have reached an agreement on a plan — just now — and we’ll be putting that out sometime soon.” (Note: the plan was never made public, but a leaked outline revealed that it contained as many as $2 in tax hikes for $1 in spending cuts.)
November 9 – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi claims that Democrats didn’t pass a budget when they controlled both chambers of Congress because “Republicans would have filibustered it,” but as she should know, budget resolutions can’t be filibustered.
January 24, 2012 – President Obama delivers a State of the Union address that falls on the 1,000th day since Senate Democrats offered a budget plan. Although the president focuses much of his criticism on “the way Congress does its business these days,” he neglects to mention Senate Democrats’ budget failures.
February 3 – Days after Chairman Conrad promised to hold a budget mark-up in committee, Majority Leader Reid declares that the Senate would not consider a budget for the third straight year.
February 12 – Current White House chief of staff (and former OMB director) Jack Lew falsely claims that budget resolutions require 60 votes to pass the Senate.
March 14 – Every Republican on the Budget Committee reminds Chairman Conrad that the Congressional Budget Act deadline for passing a budget out of committee is April 1.
March 29 – The Republican-led House passes a budget for FY 2013.
April 17 – Chairman Conrad cancels the scheduled Budget Committee mark-up for the second year in a row, a move that the New York Times reported “surprised Republicans and Democrats, who were expecting him to produce a Democratic budget that, if passed by the committee, would have been the first detailed deficit reduction plan in three years.”
April 29 – Three years pass since Senate Democrats adopted a budget.
May 10, 2013 – Treasury Department figures show that the nation has spent $10.6 trillion since the Senate’s Democrat majority last passed a budget.
Most recent budget offered by Sen. Patty Murphy Oct. 2013.
This one came up because it was forced.