Budget Battles
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Senators Float $908 Billion Stimulus Compromise
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What Biden’s New Economic Team Says About His Agenda
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What Biden’s Pick of Yellen Means for the Economy and Stimulus
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Trump Threatens Veto of Defense Bill
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Virus Surge Could Wallop the Economy Again
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Mnuchin Pulls Plug on Emergency Covid-Relief Programs
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250,000 Dead. Where Are Trump, Pelosi and McConnell?
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Centrist Senators Float $908 Billion Stimulus Deal
By Michael RaineyIn an effort to break the stalemate over the next coronavirus relief bill, a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Tuesday released the outline of an emergency spending package totaling $908 billion...
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Long Agenda, Little Time in Washington
By Michael RaineyLame-duck lawmakers returned to Washington this week with some major issues on their plate but just a few legislative days left to address them. Most pressingly, a short-term agreement to fund the...
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What Biden’s New Economic Team Signals About His Agenda
President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced his picks for top members of his economic team, with choices that signal a strong focus on providing relief for a Covid-stricken economy and help for the...
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What Biden’s Pick of Yellen for Treasury Means for the Economy and Stimulus
Janet Yellen has had a long and distinguished career as an economist, from the halls of academia to the White House to the Federal Reserve. Her next job, as Neil Irwin suggests at The Upshot , may be...
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Trump Threatens to Veto Defense Bill
By Michael RaineyDespite reports last week that the White House was looking to make a deal on the issue, President Donald Trump is threatening to veto the National Defense Authorization Act if it includes a provision...
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Most Americans Say the Country Needs More Covid Aid
By Michael RaineyA substantial majority of Americans think more Covid-19 aid from the federal government is needed, according to new poll data from Pew Research. In a survey of U.S. adults conducted from November 12...
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Biden Backs Pelosi on Massive Stimulus Bill as Former Treasury Heads Call for More Aid
By Michael RaineyJoe Biden is backing House Democrats in their effort to negotiate a multi-trillion-dollar coronavirus relief bill, according to a Biden representative Monday. “The President-elect fully supports the...
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Mnuchin Defends Decision to End Emergency Lending Programs
By Michael RaineyTreasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday defended his decision to terminate more than $450 billion worth of emergency lending programs that extended credit to businesses and local governments amid...
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Virus Surge Could Wallop the Economy Again
By Michael RaineyAnalysts at JPMorgan Chase are predicting an economic contraction in the first quarter of 2021, driven by the fall surge of Covid-19 and new restrictions on businesses imposed by state and local...
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Op-Ed of the Day: The Case for Bailing Out Cities and States
Richard Ravitch helped save New York City from bankruptcy in the 1970s. He says there’s plenty of reason to now bail out cities and states facing financial crises as a result of the coronavirus...
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Why Big Deficits Are Here to Stay (for Now)
By Michael RaineyFrom billions in income supplements for households to trillions in guaranteed loans for businesses, fiscal policy has taken a central role in the government’s response to the Covid recession...
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McConnell Plans Vote on Narrow Relief Package. Trump Says, ‘Go Big or Go Home!!!’
As the stalemate over another coronavirus relief package continues, these three things all happened on Tuesday: • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced that the Senate will take up...
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Trump Faces a GOP Revolt Over Stimulus
The faint hopes that were raised last week for another coronavirus relief package faded very quickly, as congressional Republicans and Democrats both rejected a $1.8 trillion White House proposal,...
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Trump Approves $1.8 Trillion Stimulus Offer to Pelosi
He calls her a “nut job.” She questions his mental health. Together, they have to work out a roughly $2 trillion package to rescue the economy. It might sound like a pitch for the worst rom-com ever...
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Cost of Interest on National Debt Falls Despite Surging Deficit: CBO
By Michael RaineyThe federal government estimates that it has paid billions of dollars less in interest on the national debt in the 2020 fiscal year, despite an increase in the size of the national debt on an annual...