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...

  • The Budget Battle Could Spook Global Investors

    By James C. Cooper, The Fiscal Times

    Overseas investors hold 48 percent of Treasury securities. Federal debt is 72 percent of GDP; it was 49 percent in 1995. Interest payments could total 25 percent of revenues by 2021. The fiscal...

  • Government Shutdown Likely to be Averted – For Now

    By Jennifer Depaul, The Fiscal Times

    With a Friday deadline looming, Congress and the White House have stepped up negotiations on a major spending bill to avoid a repeat of the government shutdowns in 1995-1996 that cost the country...

  • Tea Party to Hatch: Play it Our Way or You’re Out

    By Bruce Bartlett, The Fiscal Times

    The Tea Party is making life very difficult for long-serving Republicans in both the House and Senate. Their usual methods of achieving power and success in Congress have been turned on their head,...

  • The Speech Obama Should Deliver – Now

    By Lawrence Haas, The Fiscal Times

    President Obama is setting himself up to lose the public debate over spending and a possible government shutdown because he is not giving the American people a clear sense of what’s at stake for them...

  • Senate Democrats Draft Spending Cuts

    By Lori Montgomery Wp, The Washington Post

    Senate Democrats are drafting a plan to slice billions of dollars in federal spending over the next seven months, their first concession to Republicans, who insist on reducing the size of government...