Budget

Trump Wants $8 Billion to Build the Space Force

By Michael Rainey

The Trump administration wants to spend $8 billion over the next five years to establish the U.S. Space Force as a sixth branch of the military, Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday. In a speech...
The Coming Government Spending Spree

By Yuval Rosenberg

The end of the U.S. government’s fiscal year is less than two months away, and as Frank Konkel lays out at Nextgov , that means federal agencies will be on a mad dash to spend a big chunk of their...
The Deficit Is Up 20% This Year

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The federal deficit was 20 percent larger in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2018 than it was during the same time last year, the Congressional Budget Office announced Wednesday. Revenues rose 1...
$Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during an event to introduce the "Medicare for All Act of 2017\$

Putting a Price Tag on the Democratic Socialist Agenda

By Michael Rainey

A number of policy proposals associated with the “democratic socialist” agenda of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are gaining ground in the Democratic Party and will likely play a role in...
Here’s What’s at Stake in November: Tax Cuts, a Shutdown and Obamacare Repeal

By Michael Rainey

A lot can change over the next three months, but right now Democrats look likely to win control of the House of Representatives. They currently hold the lead in both generic ballot polls and the...

Trump’s New Immigration Plan: Protecting Taxpayers or Stoking Resentments?

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Trump administration is finalizing a proposal that would make it more difficult for legal immigrants to get citizenship or green cards if they have ever used public assistance programs including...
Chart of the Day: Americans Using Government Programs

By Yuval Rosenberg

The federal welfare program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families delivers cash aid to about 2.5 million people, or less than 1 percent of the U.S. population — “far smaller than the share...
Why Trump’s Border Wall Could Cost More Than $25 Billion

By Michael Rainey

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has analyzed several types of barriers for use on the Southwestern border but has failed to estimate the costs of building those barriers in all relevant locations...
Is Congress Headed for a Disaster Relief Showdown?

By Michael Rainey

Deficit hawks warn that soaring budget shortfalls and rising national debt will leave less fiscal space — or at least the perception of less fiscal space — for lawmakers to respond to the next...
Fiscal Policy Gives the Economy a Boost

By Michael Rainey

Federal, state and local fiscal policies boosted GDP growth by 0.6 percentage points in the second quarter, according to an analysis by the Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy at the...

A Hefty Price Tag for Republicans' 3 Health Care Bills

By Michael Rainey

Driven by concern that they’ll be held responsible for rising costs and other problems with the health care system, House Republicans passed bills this week that would, among other things, eliminate...
GOP Plan to Avoid Another Shutdown: Delay the Fight over Trump’s Wall

By Yuval Rosenberg

President Trump is “willing to be patient” in waiting for more funding for his border wall with Mexico, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday, according to The Washington Times . In a meeting with...
Government Shutdown Countdown Is Back

By Yuval Rosenberg

Given the House’s scheduled August recess, Congress now has less than two weeks’ worth of legislative days to pass spending bills to avoid another government shutdown on October 1. With the clock...
Will Trump Lower Drug Prices? Most People Have Their Doubts

By Yuval Rosenberg

Relatively few Americans have heard or read about President Trump’s blueprint to lower drug prices, and many of those who do know about it think it won’t work. A new poll from Politico and the...
Tax Cuts 2.0 Could Cost $600 Billion

By Michael Rainey

Republicans in the House released a brief outline of their proposed next round of tax cuts Tuesday. The two-page document calls for making the individual tax cuts and pass-through deductions, which...