Budget

Pelosi Prepares a Trump Smackdown

By Yuval Rosenberg

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday night that the House will “move swiftly” to vote on a resolution to terminate President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on the border with Mexico...
16 States Sue Trump: The Court Battles Over His ‘Emergency’ Are Just Getting Started

By Yuval Rosenberg

A coalition of 16 states filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday challenging President Trump’s move to invoke emergency powers to redirect billions of dollars for construction of a border wall. The...
Elizabeth Warren Proposes Universal Child Care, Paid for by Taxing Millionaires

By Yuval Rosenberg

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who’s running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, on Tuesday unveiled a universal child care plan that would cap families’ expenses at 7 percent of income...
Klobuchar Pitches Herself as Pragmatic Alternative to Progressive Dems

By Yuval Rosenberg

In a CNN town hall in New Hampshire Monday night, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) drew some clear distinctions between herself and some of the most progressive Democratic presidential candidates in the...
A Modest Start for the Space Force

By Michael Rainey

The Pentagon is expected to request about $270 million for the Space Force in its 2020 budget, according to a preliminary Department of Defense memo reviewed by Space News’ Sandra Erwin. The funds...

Trump’s Risky Plan to Get $8 Billion for His Wall

By Yuval Rosenberg

He really did it. President Trump on Friday declared a national emergency in an attempt to bypass Congress and redirect existing funds toward construction of his promised wall along the southern...
Trump on the $22 Trillion National Debt: 'Growth Will Straighten It Out'

By Michael Rainey

President Trump was asked at his wide-ranging press conference Friday about the roughly $2 trillion increase in public debt during the first two years of his administration: Question: Let me also ask...
The Great Debt Debate: How Dangerous Is It?

By Michael Rainey

MIT economist Olivier Blanchard caused a stir in fiscal circles last month with an academic paper suggesting that current levels of public debt may be less worrisome than many experts think (see our...
Trump to Sign Border Deal — and Declare a National Emergency, Too

By Yuval Rosenberg

Roses are red, Violets are blue, President Trump will sign the spending deal and declare a national emergency too. OK, it’s not the most romantic of gestures, but you could call it a Valentine’s Day...
Trump’s Exploding Deficit

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Federal tax revenues fell by 0.4 percent to $3.33 trillion in 2018, the first year under the new tax law, The Treasury Department said Wednesday. The drop in revenues, combined with a 4.4 percent...

Key Democrat Says He Wants to Cut the Deficit in Half

By Michael Rainey

Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), chair of the House Budget Committee, told Reuters Tuesday that Democrats are working on a fiscal plan that would cut the annual deficit in half in 10 years. While it won’t...
The High Cost of the Shutdown — and What Happens Next

By Yuval Rosenberg

Federal employees affected by the 35-day partial government shutdown returned to work Monday — though it will likely be awhile before they can say their lives have returned to normal. Some federal...
‘Greatest Threat’ to the US? Two Top Democratic Economists Aren’t So Worried About the Debt

By Michael Rainey

Starbucks founder Howard Schultz told “60 Minutes” Sunday that he is considering a run for president in 2020, possibly as a “centrist independent,” and one of his top issues is the growing national...
Deficit Rising, but Won’t Hit $1 Trillion Until 2022, CBO Projects

By Michael Rainey

In new budget and economic projections released Monday , the Congressional Budget Office said annual deficits are expected to rise above $1 trillion in 2022, two years later than previous estimates,...
Thousands of Unpaid IRS Employees Did Not Return to Work Early This Week

By The Fiscal Times Staff

More than half of the furloughed IRS employees who had been called back to work during the government shutdown to handle tax returns and taxpayer questions did not return as of Tuesday, according to...