Federal Budget

Budget Battles

  • Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) arrives at Democratic Party caucus meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/ File Photo

    Factbox: What happens in a U.S. government shutdown?

    By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell and Amanda Becker and Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell and Amanda Becker, Reuters

    In shutdowns, nonessential government employees are furloughed, or placed on temporary unpaid leave. Workers deemed essential, including those dealing with public safety and national security, keep...

  • FILE PHOTO - Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin listens as U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a tax reform industry meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 31, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

    Trump Tries to Sell Tax Reform to Democrats

    By David Morgan, Reuters

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump intensified his efforts to sell Democrats on his tax reform plan on Wednesday even as Senate Republicans edged closer to passing a budget measure that...

  • U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran nuclear deal in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

    Senate Republicans Gain Crucial Support for Budget Vital to Tax Reform

    By David Morgan, Reuters

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans on Monday gained crucial support for a vote on a budget resolution that is vital to President Donald Trump's hopes of signing sweeping tax reform...

  • FILE PHOTO: Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 12, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

    No Talk of Ousting Speaker Ryan, Key Conservative Says

    By Reuters

    Many Republicans are unhappy with the deal President Donald Trump reached last week with Democratic leaders to raise the government's debt ceiling and allow it to continue financing federal spending...

  • FILE PHOTO: The U.S. Capitol Building is lit at sunset in Washington, U.S., December 20, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

    Congress sends Trump disaster aid, debt limit increase

    By Richard Cowan and Amanda Becker, Reuters

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to provide disaster aid, extend the debt ceiling and fund the federal government for three months on Friday, delivering on...

  • Fear and Loathing as U.S. Hits $14T Debt Limit

    By Eric Pianin and Jennifer Depaul

    The federal government on Monday reached its $14.3 trillion legal limit on borrowing, which forced the Treasury to step up the implementation of a series of financial and book keeping maneuvers.

  • Treasury to Tap Pensions to Help Fund Government

    By Zachary A. Goldfarb, The Washington Post

    The Obama administration will begin to tap federal retiree programs to help fund operations after the government loses its ability Monday to borrow more money from the public, adding urgency to...

  • U.S. in Debt? Sell, Economists Say

    By JOEL ACHENBACH, The Washington Post

    With the United States poised to slam into its debt limit Monday, conservative economists are eyeballing all that gold in Fort Knox. There’s about 147 million ounces of gold parked in the legendary...

  • HUD Funding Reveals Million Dollar Wasteland

    By Debbie Cenziper and Jonathan Mummolo, The Washington Post

    The federal government’s largest housing construction program for the poor has squandered hundreds of millions of dollars on stalled or abandoned projects and routinely failed to crack down on...

  • Social Security and Medicare: Finances Worsening

    By Merrill Goozner, The Fiscal Times

    The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees’ report warns that the two major entitlement programs are on track to exhaust their surpluses sooner than previously thought unless Congress...