Budget

Is Trump's $28 Billion Bailout Paying Farmers Too Much?

By Michael Rainey

The Trump administration is spending $28 billion to bail out farmers hurt by the president’s trade war with China – a huge sum that some experts say overestimates the economic losses inflicted by the...
New Trump Food Stamp Rule Will Cut 700,000 from Program

By Michael Rainey

The White House said Wednesday that it has finalized a rule that will tighten work requirements for participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The new rule could result...
Navy Awards Largest Shipbuilding Contract Ever

By Michael Rainey

The U.S. Navy awarded a contract Monday worth more than $22 billion to build nine new attack submarines. The agreement with General Dynamics Electric Boat includes an option for a 10 th sub, which...
On Congress’s To-Do List: Prevent a Shutdown in 18 Days

By Yuval Rosenberg

Congressional appropriators back from their Thanksgiving recess have just three weeks to hammer out details on dozens of policy differences over federal funding for fiscal year 2020, which started on...
Chart of the Day: Record Low Poverty Rate

By Michael Rainey

The extensive array of government assistance programs — including Social Security, unemployment insurance, veterans’ benefits, nutritional aid, rental assistance and the Earned Income Tax Credit —...

Trump Scores a Win From NATO, but Fireworks Ahead

By Michael Rainey

Ahead of NATO’s 70th-anniversary meeting in London this week, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced last Thursday that the U.S. will contribute less to the alliance’s relatively small central...
Congress Makes a Deal on 2020 Spending, but the Budget Battle Is Far from Over

By Michael Rainey

Lawmakers took a big step over the weekend toward reaching a spending deal for the 2020 fiscal year, though a major hurdle — funding for President Trump’s border wall — remains in place. On Saturday...
States Boost Spending at Fastest Pace Since Great Recession

By Yuval Rosenberg

U.S. states increased spending in fiscal year 2019 at the fastest clip since the end of the Great Recession, according to a new report from the National Association of State Budget Officers. Total...
Secret Service Spent $254K at Trump Properties in His First Five Months in Office

By Yuval Rosenberg

It’s a shocker, we know: Newly released documents raise fresh concerns about the extent to which President Trump is personally profiting from his public office, showing that the Secret Service spent...
Public Investment Is the Key to Avoiding Economic Stagnation: Report

By Michael Rainey

Economic stagnation on a global scale is a growing threat, according to a new report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The group’s November economic outlook...

Dem Senators Demand Answers on Money Wasted by Former HHS Secretary Tom Price

By Yuval Rosenberg

Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Patty Murray and Ron Wyden sent a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar Wednesday asking when the administration will recoup hundreds of...
Why Trump Might Want Another Government Shutdown

By Yuval Rosenberg

President Trump has been known to raise the stakes in political battles, especially when he’s holding a weak hand. Now, political insiders in both parties worry that he might do it again, Jonathan...
Fighting Corruption in Ukraine? Trump’s Budgets Suggest Otherwise

By Michael Rainey

President Trump has insisted that the controversial delay in the disbursement of military aid to Ukraine earlier this year was driven by his deep concerns about corruption in the Eastern European...
Warren Proposes to Increase Spending on Public Education by $800 Billion

By Michael Rainey

Sen. Warren released an education plan Monday that calls for raising federal funding for public schools to $450 billion over 10 years, roughly four times current levels, according to Bloomberg News...
A November Government Shutdown Is Growing More Likely

By Michael Rainey

The dizzying whirl of events in Washington on Wednesday – including a House vote condemning President Trump’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from northern Syria and an explosive meeting at the White House...