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...

  • Iran Nuclear Talks: 10 Key Sticking Points

    By Parisa Hafezi, Reuters

    Iran and six major powers are intensifying negotiations in the Swiss city of Lausanne ahead of an end-March deadline for a historic framework agreement that would curb Tehran's nuclear program in...

  • How to Degrade ISIS on Twitter

    By Patrick Tucker, Defense One

    AUSTIN, Texas – For the Islamic State, or ISIS, the social media site Twitter, with its 2.7 million users, remains core to the group’s recruiting, messaging and communication. A new report estimates...

  • House and Senate Duke It Out Over Defense Spending

    By Eric Pianin

    House and Senate GOP budget leaders remained at odds Wednesday over the best scheme for boosting defense spending to combat the rising threat of ISIS and other terrorist organizations. Whatever...

  • Obama’s Transparency Promise Became a Big Fat Lie

    By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal Times

    The administration that boldly called itself the “most transparent in history” has just changed course: It’s now exempting a key White House office from any record requests under the Freedom of...

  • Putin Takes His Wacky War Games One Step Further

    By Rob Garver

    As Russia held a public celebration of the anniversary of its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula – an action regarded as illegal by most of the world – Russian President Vladimir Putin further...