Budget

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...
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...
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...
Trump Likely to Sign Border Deal, Avert Another Shutdown

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Lawmakers are scrambling to finalize their compromise package on spending and border security — and resolve a few lingering differences — but once they’re done, President Trump is expected to...
Trump’s ‘Not Happy’ with the Border Deal. Why He’ll Probably Sign It Anyway.

By Yuval Rosenberg

Will he or won’t he? After House and Senate negotiators reached a tentative agreement Monday night on a bipartisan border security deal, the looming question is whether President Trump will veto the...
Goldman Sachs Projects Deficit Will Top $1 Trillion Next Year

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Congressional Budget Office projected last month that the federal budget deficit for this year would be about $900 billion , up 15 percent from last year but about $84 billion less than it had...
Lawmakers Scramble to Avert Another Government Shutdown

By Yuval Rosenberg

Collapsed. Derailed. Fell apart. Broke down. Whatever description you choose, the bottom line on the bipartisan congressional negotiations over border security isn’t good: The talks, which had...

Is It Time to Start Selling 100-Year Bonds?

By Michael Rainey

With the U.S. facing a $12 trillion deficit over the next decade, the Treasury Department is exploring ways to maintain robust demand for American debt. One option being considered is the sale of “...
Why Trump’s New Infrastructure Push May Already Be Doomed

By Michael Rainey

President Trump called for a big jump in infrastructure spending in last year’s State of the Union address, asking lawmakers “to produce a bill that generates at least $1.5 trillion for the new...
A Fiscal Hawk Argues for Infrastructure Investment

By Michael Rainey

The stimulus from the GOP tax cuts and the bipartisan increase in federal spending in 2018 is starting to fade, says Diane Swonk, chief economist at the tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton. Writing...
Rethinking the 355-Ship Navy

By Michael Rainey

The U.S. Navy set a goal in 2016 of growing the fleet to 355 warships, a big jump from the current fleet size of 287 ships. Experts, however, say the goal is unrealistic in the absence of a...
Navy Orders Two New Aircraft Carriers, Claiming Billions in Savings

By Michael Rainey

The first in a new class of supercarriers, the USS Gerald R. Ford was delivered to the Navy years behind schedule and billions over budget. The $13 billion ship‘s aircraft launching and retrieval...