Budget

Trump Wants South Korea to Pay Up for Protection: Report

By Michael Rainey

President Trump is demanding that South Korea pay billions of additional dollars for U.S. protection, according to a report Friday at CNN . South Korea is paying about $1 billion this year to cover...
Cost of Wars Since 9/11: $6.4 Trillion and Rising

By Michael Rainey

The total cost of the wars fought since 9/11 is approaching $6.4 trillion, according to an annual report published Wednesday by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown...
Fed Chief: Get the Deficit Under Control While the Economy Is Still Strong

By Michael Rainey

Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell told lawmakers Wednesday that Congress needs to get the deficit under control while the economy is still growing and the outlook remains positive. Failing to do so...
Congress Plans Stopgap Spending Bill Through December 20

By Yuval Rosenberg

Mark December 20 on your calendar. Congress plans to pass a second stopgap spending bill to keep the government running through that date, House Appropriations Committee Chair Nita Lowey (D-NY) told...
Verma Attacks Critics of Medicaid Work Requirement, Pushes for Tighter Eligibility

By Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News

Seema Verma, the Trump administration’s top Medicaid official, Tuesday sharply attacked critics of her plan to force some Medicaid enrollees to work, a policy that led to thousands of people losing...

Elizabeth Warren Says Americans Will Spend $11 Trillion on Health Care. Is That True?

By Michael Rainey

Elizabeth Warren says that Americans will spend “about $11 trillion on insurance premiums, copays, deductibles and uncovered medical expenses” over the next 10 years if the current health care system...
Mark Sanford Ends 2020 Presidential Bid Challenging Trump

By Yuval Rosenberg

Former South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford suspended his longshot presidential bid on Tuesday, 65 days after he announced he would challenge President Trump for the 2020 Republican nomination. A fiscal...
A Third Round of Farm Bailouts?

By Yuval Rosenberg

President Trump’s trade wars are hurting U.S. farmers, but Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is working to keep them from getting more frustrated even as he promotes President Trump’s agenda, The...
A Dam Big Problem

By Yuval Rosenberg

A more than two-year-long investigation by the Associated Press has identified 1,688 dams across 44 states and Puerto Rico that are in poor or unsatisfactory condition and could result in life-...
Sanders, Buttigieg Release Plans for Veterans Affairs

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Bernie Sanders unveiled on Monday a proposal to expand services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Among numerous policy details in the proposal, Sanders said he would: Fill 50,000...

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...