Budget Battles
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Republicans Want Strings Attached to California Disaster Aid
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Biden Goes Out With a Bang in the Jobs Market
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Trump Privately Pushes Senators for ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’
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Trump Considers Declaring National Emergency for Tariff Rollout
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Trump Unloads: Grievances, Greenland and the Gulf of Mexico
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Republicans Divided Over How to Pass Trump’s Agenda
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Trump Pushes Johnson to Victory as Speaker
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Why the Price of the F-35 Keeps Soaring
By Ciro ScottiThe most costly fighter ever built is getting even more expensive. A new General Accounting Office report says the Pentagon will spend an additional $3.9 billion over the next five years on “...
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What a Waste—Senate Health Care Debate Squanders Time and Millions for Nothing
By Rob Garver and Eric PianinFor Republican leaders in the Senate, watching their first two attempts to pass a health care bill this week fail badly in floor votes must have been extra painful as they plainly knew in advance...
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The Pentagon Skips Out on a $10 Billion Debt
By Eric PianinBy law, the free-spending Defense Department is required to implement a plan to achieve at least $10 billion in administrative cost savings within the next two years. But the Government...
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Can Congress Finally Stop Wasting $100 Billion a Year in Erroneous Payments?
By Eric PianinIn response to repeated prodding by the General Accounting Office and other government watchdogs, the House Budget Committee is calling for creation of a special commission to crack down on...
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Homeland Security Did Not Report $3.5 Million Spent on Conferences
By Eric PianinThe behemoth Department of Homeland Security violated federal rules when they neglected to report nearly two dozen conferences sponsored by the agency in 2014 and 2015 at an overall cost of more than...
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The Latest FBI Mess: The $2 Billion Project to Build Its New Headquarters
By Eric PianinThe FBI’s once imposing fortress-like headquarters in downtown Washington is in shambles today, with netting hanging from the façade to prevent broken concrete from hitting passing tourists. Inside,...
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The Navy’s Argument for Building Another $500 Million Combat Ship Doesn’t Hold Water
By Ciro ScottiUnder pressure from the White House, the Navy agreed to add a second Littoral Combat Ship to its 2018 budget despite grave concerns about the capabilities of the vessel. The stated reason was to save...
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How a No-Show Worker Scammed the VA Out of $100,000
By Eric PianinA former research investigator at a VA health facility in Oklahoma City scammed the government out of more than $100,000 by claiming thousands of hours of work while he was drawing a salary at a...
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Ouch! Mylan May Have Overcharged the US More Than $1 Billion for EpiPens
By Rob GarverThe federal government appears to have shelled out more than $1.27 billion in overpayments to the drug company Mylan, which holds the patent on the widely-used EpiPen, an auto-injector for...
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How Bad Is Drug Theft at VA Hospitals? Feds Pursue Dozens of New Cases
By Eric PianinIn the last few months, the VA inspector general’s office opened 36 criminal investigations into alleged drug theft by employees at veterans hospitals, bringing the number of open criminal...
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Is State Dept. Trying to Muzzle Afghanistan Watchdog?
By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal TimesA battle for independence seems to be breaking out between the State Department and the federal watchdog in charge of keeping tabs on the entire $110 billion reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan...
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Poker and Escorts on Government Credit Cards
By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal TimesEvery year, the government loses millions of dollars to fraudulent charges on government-issued credit cards—with some federal workers caught buying BMWs and home theaters or going on smaller...
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Nuke Waste Facility Could Go $40 Billion Over Budget
By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal TimesThe Department of Energy has already shoveled more than $4 billion into a facility in South Carolina intended to safely dispose of weapons-grade plutonium left over from the Cold War. But management...
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Supply-Side Social Insurance Simply Doesn’t Work
By Mark ThomaDavid Brooks’ claim that “the federal government spent nearly $14,000 per poor person” in 2013 and his claim that “over the last 30 years the poverty rate has scarcely changed” have both been...
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Veterans Affairs Department Makes the Government’s ‘High Risk’ List
By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal TimesVeterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald is trying desperately to convince the public that his embattled agency is on the road to reform. Investigations last year revealed the VA had engaged in cover-...