Big Decisions

Budget Battles

  • Chief Justice Roberts (front row, center) wrote the majority opinion.

    Supreme Court Hands Trump a Historic Win in Immunity Case

    By Yuval Rosenberg

    Welcome to July! It’s only the first of the month, but we’ve already got fireworks going off in the nation’s capital, where the Supreme Court handed down a landmark 6-3 ruling , decided along...

  • 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: A pharmacist holds prescription painkiller OxyContin at a local pharmacy in Provo

    Delaware Sues Opioid Manufacturers, Distributors Over Epidemic

    By Nate Raymond, Reuters

    (Reuters) - Delaware on Friday became the latest state to file a lawsuit accusing corporations of helping fuel the national opioid epidemic, suing a wide range of companies involved in making,...

  • 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...

  • FILE PHOTO: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson (L) listens to Representative Tom Marino (R-PA) (R) before a House Judiciary committee hearing on the 'Oversight of the US Department of Homeland Security' on Capitol Hill in Washington July 14, 20

    Trump's drug czar nominee withdraws from consideration

    By Sarah N. Lynch and Makini Brice, Reuters

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. lawmaker who was President Donald Trump's pick for drug czar withdrew on Tuesday after a report he spearheaded a bill that hurt the government's ability to crack down...

  • Opposed to Medicaid Expansion? Why It Could Cost You

    By Michael Ollove, Stateline

    Dallas County property owners paid more than $467million in taxes last year to Parkland Health and Hospital System, the county’s only public hospital, to provide medical care to the poor and...

  • Are the States Ready for Obamacare Ruling?

    By Jennifer Davis-Olivia, The Conversation

    The United States Supreme Court is expected to issue an opinion by the end of this month in King v Burwell. At question is whether people using the federal health insurance market are eligible to...

  • Rallies across U.S. assail Obama's proposed gun curbs

    Charleston Massacre May Rekindle Gun Control Debate

    By Eric Pianin

    It’s unlikely that the young white supremacist, would have been prevented from acquiring the .45 caliber gun he used to kill nine African Americans in Charleston, S.C. last week if Congress had...

  • The Next Star Wars: Are We Ready for Satellite Attacks?

    By Alexander Rader

    Space is no longer the frontier, it’s the Wild West. As the area around Earth fills up with more and more material, the once limitless volume has started to look pretty crowded. The U.S. military...

  • Pope Francis receives a credential letter from Gerardo Angel Bugallo Ottone, new ambassador of Spain to the Holy See, during a private audience at the Vatican, October 2, 2017. Osservatore Romano/Handout via Reuters

    The Pope’s Manifesto Could Destroy the U.S. Economy

    By Liz Peek

    Liberals are positively giddy that Pope Francis has joined their crusade against fossil fuels. They are probably disappointed that he didn’t blast the Koch Brothers, too, in his widely heralded...