Budget

Warren Proposes to Increase Spending on Public Education by $800 Billion

By Michael Rainey

Sen. Warren released an education plan Monday that calls for raising federal funding for public schools to $450 billion over 10 years, roughly four times current levels, according to Bloomberg News...
A November Government Shutdown Is Growing More Likely

By Michael Rainey

The dizzying whirl of events in Washington on Wednesday – including a House vote condemning President Trump’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from northern Syria and an explosive meeting at the White House...
Trump Signs Executive Order Aimed at Curbing New Agency Spending

By Yuval Rosenberg

President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at cutting spending at federal agencies by requiring them to offset any increased outlays on mandatory programs with other cuts. The “...
Trump Suffers Two Legal Defeats on Immigration and Border Policies

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Trump administration suffered a pair of legal defeats on major immigration policies Friday, as a federal judge in Texas ruled that the president acted unlawfully in declaring a national emergency...
House Appropriations Chair Nita Lowey Won’t Seek Reelection in 2020

By Yuval Rosenberg

Rep. Nita Lowey, the New York Democrat who chairs the influential House Appropriations Committee, announced Thursday that she will not seek reelection next year. The 82-year-old Lowey has served in...

The Budget Outlook Isn’t Good — but It Has ‘Improved Substantially Since 2010’: Report

By Yuval Rosenberg

The national debt is now approaching $23 trillion, up nearly $9 trillion from the end of 2010, and the debt held by the public now stands at nearly $17 trillion, up about $7.5 trillion from since the...
Trump Wants States to Experiment With Medicaid — Up to a Point

By Michael Ollove, Stateline

After a series of zigzags, Utah is about to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. At least 10 red states have done the same, but Utah’s experience may be a bellwether showing how far the...
The Navy’s $7 Billion Destroyer Is Now 6 Years Overdue

By Michael Rainey

The U.S. Navy’s Zumwalt-class destroyer program has experienced one problem after another, from a failure to maintain power while at sea to a gun that requires munitions so expensive that the Navy...
Why Huge Deficits Could Be Here to Stay

By Michael Rainey

Even as annual deficits climb back toward the $1 trillion mark, “the deficit fear-factor” continues to recede in Washington, says Bloomberg’s Steve Matthews, reporting on a debate organized this week...
States Get a Third of Their Revenue from Uncle Sam

By Michael Rainey

The federal government provided 32.4% of all state revenues in the 2017 fiscal year, according to a new analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts. That’s roughly in line with the year before, when...

Congress Considers Another Option for Border Funding Fight: Skip It

By Yuval Rosenberg

The fight over funding President Trump’s border barriers led to a 35-day shutdown, the longest ever, last December and January. With appropriators now working on spending decisions for fiscal 20202,...
Is Trump’s Raid on Military Funds for His Border Wall Jeopardizing National Security?

By Michael Rainey

The military construction projects that are being defunded to provide $3.6 billion for President Trump’s border wall are of vital importance to the Pentagon, according to documents submitted by the...
Democratic Senators Seek to Block Trump’s ‘Public Charge’ Rule

By Yuval Rosenberg

Democratic senators Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut introduced legislation Tuesday to block the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule . The rule, finalized last...
In Border Wall Fight, Dems Say GOP Is Pursuing Same Path That Led to Shutdown

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Senate fight over funding President Trump’s border barriers is heating up. Senate Democratic leaders are urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard...
Recent Government Shutdowns Cost $4 Billion

By Michael Rainey

The last three government shutdowns cost the government about $4 billion and more than 56,000 years in lost productivity, according to a new bipartisan report. The Senate Homeland Security and...