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...

  • Obama Whacks $4B in Travel, Trinkets & Cellphones

    By JIM KUHNHENN

    With the stroke of his pen, President Barack Obama has sacked souvenirs that federal agencies buy with taxpayer money to promote their work – part of a broader plan to cut $4 billion in wasteful...

  • Deficit Accounting is a Generational Ponzi Scheme

    By Laurence Kotlikoff, The Fiscal Times

    Our county is in far worse fiscal shape than our politicians are disclosing. Our official debt in the hands of the public is huge, totaling 70 percent of GDP. But our official debt leaves out most of...

  • The New Poor: Elderly Hit Hard on Health Costs

    By Merrill Goozner, The Fiscal Times

    The Census Bureau on Monday unveiled an experimental new way of measuring poverty that slightly increases the number of poor people in America. While the new measure incorporates the value of subsidy...

  • Supercommittee Deal Prospects Fade

    By LORI MONTOMERY, The Washington Post

    Washington’s latest exercise in debt reduction appeared to be at an impasse Thursday, as members of a special congressional committee barreled toward a Thanksgiving deadline with no movement on the...

  • Lawmakers to 'Super Committee': Consider All Options

    By ALAN FRAM

    Forty House Republicans joined 60 Democrats Wednesday in pressing Congress' special debt reduction committee to consider all options, including higher revenues, and shoot for $4 trillion in savings...