Budget Battles
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Who Gets a Relief Check? Biden Willing to Negotiate
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Dems Ready to Go It Alone on Massive Covid Relief Bill
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Republicans Hammer Biden’s Big Stimulus Plan
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Biden Unveils ‘Wartime’ Covid Response Plan
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Biden Signs 17 Executive Actions on Day 1
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Yellen Tells Congress to ‘Act Big’ to Rescue the Economy
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Trump's Legacy: $7.8 Trillion Rise in Debt
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Investors Tell Washington: Don’t Worry About the Debt
With a growing number of lawmakers expressing concerns about another massive, deficit-financed Covid relief package and the historically large national debt, Politico’s Victoria Guida reports that...
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The Battle Over Biden’s Big Stimulus Plan
President Biden’s flurry of first-week executive orders comes as his $1.9 trillion proposal for the next coronavirus relief package faces intense Republican opposition, including from moderates whose...
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Yellen Tells Congress It’s Time to ‘Act Big’ to Rescue the Economy
Incoming Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday urged Congress to “act big” and deliver more relief to the pandemic-ravaged economy. As she sought to build support for the $1.9 trillion rescue...
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Orszag, Rubin and Stiglitz Call for a New Fiscal Framework
The consensus on the dangers of rising debt has shifted dramatically over the last decade. Economists have been reexamining how best to spur recovery and encourage wider-spread prosperity as...
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Deficit Hits $572 Billion for First Three Months of Fiscal 2021: CBO
The federal budget deficit for the first quarter of fiscal year 2021 totaled $572 billion, up $215 billion from the same period a year earlier, the Congressional Budget Office estimated on Monday...
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2021 Deficit On Track to Total $2.3 Trillion: Budget Watchdog
The federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2021 is on track to total $2.3 trillion, or 10.4% of gross domestic product, lower than the record $3.1 trillion deficit last year but higher than any other...
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CBO Report Lists 83 Options for Reducing the Deficit
The federal budget deficit in October and November, the first two months of fiscal year 2021, totaled $430 billion, an increase of $87 billion, or 25%, over the same period last year, the...
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Debating the Debt: Biden’s Team Reflects a Big Shift
Debates about the national debt and federal budget deficit dominated political and policy clashes throughout the Obama administration, but largely disappeared during President Trump’s time in 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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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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National Debt Will Exceed Size of Economy in 2021
By Michael RaineyThe CBO also updated its budget outlook Wednesday, estimating that the federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2020 would come in at $3.3 trillion, down from its previous estimate of $3.7 trillion...
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Once Again, Infrastructure?
By Michael RaineyReal interest rates are negative, which means the federal government is essentially getting paid to borrow money right now, once inflation is taken into account. Writing at Bloomberg Monday, Wall...
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US Debt Is Now Larger Than the Economy. Does It Matter?
By Michael RaineyThe national debt is now roughly the size of the U.S. economy, crossing a threshold that has long worried deficit hawks and many economists. At the end of 2019, the federal debt held by the public...
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Op-Ed of the Day: A Major Problem for the $26.5 Trillion National Debt
By Michael RaineyThe national debt is rapidly running higher as Congress spends trillions on coronavirus relief efforts, but James Clark, the deputy assistant secretary for federal finance in the Treasury Department...
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Is Joe Biden Still a Deficit Hawk?
As Joe Biden prepares to formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday, he’ll be looking to convince Americans that he, not President Trump, is best prepared to meet this moment in...