Budget

Medicaid Work Rules Approved for South Carolina

By Michael Rainey

The Trump administration on Thursday approved South Carolina’s request to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients. Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...
Watchdog Questions $6.7 Billion in Medicare Payments

By Michael Rainey

Health insurance companies in the Medicare Advantage program have received billions in extra payments after making adjustments to their patient charts – changes that the Department of Health and...
Congressional Negotiators Strike Spending Deal to Avoid a Pre-Christmas Shutdown

By Yuval Rosenberg

Congressional appropriators have reportedly reached a deal “in principle” to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year and avert a potential shutdown at the end of next week. The...
Judge Blocks Trump Plan to Divert $3.6 Billion in Military Funds to Border Wall

By Yuval Rosenberg

A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration’s plan to divert $3.6 billion in military funds toward construction of barriers along the border with Mexico. District Court Judge...
$738 Billion Defense Bill Authorizes Space Force and New Benefits for Federal Workers

By Michael Rainey

It looks like Space Force has earned its wings. The leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees announced late Monday an agreement on the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which...

The Terrible Cost of the War in Afghanistan

By Yuval Rosenberg

The war in Afghanistan is the longest armed conflict in U.S. history, and throughout the 18 years of fighting, U.S. officials have publicly said they were making progress. Yet a new investigative...
The Fiscal Challenge for the Next Recession

By Yuval Rosenberg

The federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2019 was nearly $1 trillion. “In the next downturn, don’t be surprised if this number hits $2 trillion,” writes Nick Timiraos, The Wall Street Journal’s...
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...

Congress Rebukes Trump on Border Emergency Again, Setting Up Another Veto

By Yuval Rosenberg

The House on Friday voted to terminate President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the southern border, rebuking the president on the issue for a second time this year, but again falling...
Defective $5 Part in US Nuclear Bombs Could Cost $725 Million to Fix

By Michael Rainey

Defense officials said Wednesday that an inexpensive electrical capacitor used in some new nuclear bombs in the U.S. arsenal has proven to be defective, requiring a months-long replacement effort...
Senate Again Votes to Block Trump’s National Emergency, but Short of Veto-Proof Majority

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Senate voted 54-41 Wednesday to disapprove of President Trump’s national emergency declaration and his shifting of Pentagon funding toward construction of barriers along the southern border. The...
Trump Food Stamp Rule Could End School Lunches for 500,000

By Michael Rainey

The Trump administration’s effort to tighten the rules for food stamp eligibility could result in a half-million children losing access to free school lunches, according to an unpublished analysis by...
Trump Administration Threatens to Withhold Highway Funds from California

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Trump administration is ramping up it’s war with California . The Washington Post reports that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler sent a letter Monday to the California...