Budget

Where Defense Dollars Get Spent in the US: The Top 10 States

By Michael Rainey

The Department of Defense spent $407 billion on contracts and payroll in the U.S. in 2017, equal to $1,466 per resident. And while that money was spread around the 50 states, it wasn’t shared equally...
Pentagon Provides List of Projects That Could Be Used to Pay for the Border Wall

By Michael Rainey

The Pentagon on Monday provided lawmakers with a list of military construction projects that could be affected by President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the southern border. The...
60% of This Year’s Deficit Is the Result of Tax Cuts and Other Recent Legislation: CRFB

By Yuval Rosenberg

The federal deficit for fiscal 2019 is projected to climb to around $900 billion, or $118 billion more than last year, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office . Most of that total...
Trump Budget Would Produce $1 Trillion Deficits for Years to Come: CRFB

By Michael Rainey

President Trump’s 2020 budget request released earlier this week projected a reduction in the national debt over a decade and a balanced budget in 15 years. But as many critics have pointed out (see...
Pentagon Lost Track of $2 Billion Worth of F-35 Equipment

By Michael Rainey

Department of Defense officials haven’t kept track of more than $2 billion worth of government-owned equipment involved in producing the F-35 stealth jet, according to a report released this week by...

Trump Vetoes Congress on Border Emergency

By Yuval Rosenberg

President Trump on Friday issued the first veto of his presidency, striking down a resolution passed by Congress opposing his declaration of a national emergency to secure additional funds for his...
Acting Defense Secretary Defends ‘Slush Fund’ Account

By Michael Rainey

Testifying before Congress on Thursday for the first time since stepping into the top leadership role at the Pentagon, Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan defended his department’s $718...
Senate Delivers Sharp Rebuke to Trump on His National Emergency

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Senate on Thursday delivered an extraordinary rebuke to President Trump, voting 59-41 to terminate his declaration of a national emergency at the southern border. The vote sets up a likely veto...
Trump Cranks Up the Pressure on Senate GOP Over His ‘National Emergency’

By Yuval Rosenberg

Senate Republicans are in a bind. President Trump on Wednesday refused to help them out of it. The Senate is slated to take up a resolution Thursday disapproving of Trump’s declaration of a national...
Pay Off the Debt? Trump Is Adding Trillions to It

By Yuval Rosenberg

Time after time in recent years, Republican budget writers have tried harder than Olympic gymnasts to achieve balance. In a sometimes quixotic-seeming quest to wipe out the federal deficit within 10...

Pelosi Knocks Medicare for All, Green New Deal

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Rolling Stone has a new interview with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. A few highlights from the interview, conducted last month by Tessa Stuart and Jann S. Wenner: On the Green New Deal: “It’s an...
House Votes to Terminate Trump’s Border Emergency

By Yuval Rosenberg

By a vote of 245-182, the Democratic-led House just approved a resolution terminating President Trump’s national emergency at the border with Mexico and blocking his reprogramming of federal funds...
How Much Will the US Save by Withdrawing from Syria and Afghanistan?

By The Fiscal Times Staff

President Trump’s proposed troop drawdown in Syria and Afghanistan won’t save much money, and it could end up costing the U.S. more, says Rick Berger of the American Enterprise Institute, writing at...
Pharma Execs to Congress: Don’t Blame Us for High Drug Prices

By Michael Rainey

There were few fireworks, and even fewer solutions, as executives from seven major pharmaceutical companies appeared Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee to address high drug prices. Sen...
58 Former National Security Officials Say There Is No National Emergency

By Yuval Rosenberg

The House is set to vote Tuesday on a resolution to block President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the border with Mexico. It is expected to pass easily, setting up a less certain...