Budget

Trouble Ahead for Space Force

By Michael Rainey

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK) is not currently a supporter of President Trump’s plan to create a Space Force as an independent branch of the U.S. military. He did not...
A $300 Million Fighter Jet?

By Michael Rainey

Critics have long decried the staggering cost of the F-35 Lightning II stealth jet, which is projected to cost more than $1.5 trillion over the lifetime of the program. But the fifth-generation...
CBO Offers 121 Ways to Shrink the Deficit

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The Congressional Budget Office has released a 326-page guide that describes dozens of ways the federal government could reduce its large and growing budget deficit. The 121 policy options included...
How Trump Could Escape the Shutdown Trap

By Michael Rainey

Congress left town Thursday for a five-day weekend with no clear plans for how to avoid a partial government shutdown next week. Democrats said they were waiting for Republicans to make a move,...
Trump's Claim That 'Mexico Is Paying for the Wall!' Leaves Experts Stumped

By Michael Rainey

President Trump returned to a favorite claim about who would pay for the border wall in a tweet Thursday: Sen. Chuck Schumer replied with a tweet of his own: "Mr. President: If you say Mexico is...

Boxed In by Trump, GOP Hurtles Toward a Shutdown

By Michael Rainey

House Republicans considered moving forward with a bill that would have given President Trump the $5 billion he has demanded for border wall construction, but it looks like they’re leaving town...
Moody’s Warns of Declining US Fiscal Strength

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Trump’s tax cuts combined with a slowing economy will diminish the United States’ “fiscal strength” over the next 10 years, Moody’s Investor Service said Wednesday. The gradual decline could pressure...
What’s at Stake in the Government Shutdown Fight

By Yuval Rosenberg

Tuesday’s stunningly contentious meeting between President Trump and Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer did nothing to dissipate the uncertainty over a partial government shutdown at...
$733 Billion? $700? $750? Trump Sows Confusion on Defense Spending

By Michael Rainey

President Trump has offered significantly different opinions on future defense spending in the last few weeks, indicating in October that next year’s budget would be cut amid rising deficits and then...
Deficit Climbs to $303 Billion Over First Two Months of Fiscal 2019

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The U.S. budget deficit jumped to $303 billion in October and November, the first two months of the 2019 fiscal year, according to data released by the Congressional Budget Office Monday. Here are...

Congressional Panel Considers Budget Reforms

By Yuval Rosenberg

A bipartisan congressional panel tasked with revamping the federal budgeting process on Thursday marked up its proposed legislation ahead of a November 30 deadline. The panel, created as part of...
Pentagon Fails Its First-Ever Audit

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Defense Department has failed its first-ever comprehensive audit, Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said Thursday, according to multiple reports. “We failed the audit, but we never...
The Economy’s Coming Wile E. Coyote Moment

By Michael Rainey

Most economists think that the “sugar high” in the economy produced by simultaneous tax cuts and federal spending increases this year will fizzle at some in the next few quarters, at which point GDP...
States Spent $2 Trillion in 2018. Here’s Where It Went.

By Yuval Rosenberg

The 50 states spent more than $2 trillion for the first time in fiscal 2018, according to a report released Thursday by the National Association of State Budget Officers. At the same time, as the...
Securing America’s Future Requires Political Courage Now

By Russ Latino

My son is five. He plays with Legos and digs old-school video games. My daughter is three. She likes dolls and is prone to uncontrollable giggling with no apparent provocation. Neither have much...