Taxes & Budget
Coverage of the national budget and your taxes.
USDA to open county offices, restart farmer aid despite shutdown
President Trump is directing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to free up billions of dollars in farmer aid frozen by the government shutdown.
Trump rejects Democrats’ latest call to negotiate with them to end the government shutdown
President Trump on Tuesday rejected Democratic leaders’ request to meet with him to negotiate on health care, saying their party must first reopen the government.
Clash of Senate leaders’ styles adds to the standoff that keeps the government shut down
The government shutdown is highlighting the contrasting leadership styles of Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer.
Trump’s NIH plows ahead with bat lab to fuel virus research in U.S.
The Trump administration is moving to wind down many taxpayer-funded animal experiments, but a controversial bat virus lab in Colorado is still powering forward with a new infusion of millions of dollars.
Education Department layoffs hit offices that oversee special education and civil rights enforcement
A new round of layoffs at the Education Department is depleting an agency that was hit hard in the Trump administration’s previous mass firings, threatening new disruption to the nation’s students and schools in areas from special education to civil rights enforcement and after-school programs.
Speaker Johnson says no quick fix to Obamacare subsidy ‘boondoggle’
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that a COVID-era expansion of Obamacare premium subsidies Democrats want to extend is a “boondoggle,” and there is no quick fix Congress can enact.
IRS has a bizarre habit of hanging up on callers
The IRS can’t seem to stop hanging up on taxpayers, according to a new audit by the agency’s inspector general, which monitored hundreds of customer service calls and found that in 15% of them, the connection was broken before the conversation was completed.
Trump says troops will be paid despite shutdown
President Trump has directed the use of “all available funds” to pay military members while the government is closed.
Trump administration begins the layoffs of furloughed federal workers
The White House is now making good on its threats to fire federal workers because of the government shutdown, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said Friday.
Sen. Thune rules out nuking the legislative filibuster to end the government shutdown
Senate Majority Leader John Thune is refusing to use the so-called nuclear option to get rid of the legislative filibuster so Republicans can end the government shutdown without needing Democratic votes.
Senate stopgap bills fail again as GOP seizes on Schumer’s ‘every day gets better’ for Democrats
The Senate on Thursday rejected dueling stopgap bills to fund the government for the seventh time as Republicans slammed Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer for saying every day of the shutdown “gets better” for Democrats.
Partisan shutdown spin twists facts and ignores inconvenient truths
The partisan messaging campaigns about the government shutdown unleashed a whirlwind of political spin where obfuscation and twisting of facts are clouding several inconvenient truths about the partisan impasse.
Republicans eye layoffs, military pay deadline as pressure points for Democrats to end shutdown
Republicans are eying the end of the week as a pivotal pressure point in their campaign to get Democrats to end the government shutdown.
White House says it will redirect tariff revenue to keep food for the poor afloat during shutdown
The Trump administration is diverting tariff revenue to keep food assistance for low-income women and children afloat during the government shutdown, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday.
Speaker Johnson answers MTG: GOP leaders plugged into expiration of enhanced Obamacare subsidies
House Speaker Mike Johnson defended himself and fellow GOP leaders after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized them for lacking a plan to deal with the expiring COVID expansion of Obamacare subsidies.
House Democratic leader Jeffries challenges Speaker Johnson to debate on shutdown, health care
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is challenging House Speaker Mike Johnson to a prime-time debate on the government shutdown and what he calls “the Republican health care crisis.”
Shutdown set to drag into sixth day with no signs of a breakthrough in Congress
The government shutdown enters its sixth day on Monday with lawmakers still stuck in their partisan corners and no prospect of a swift resolution.
Speaker Johnson says Trump is ‘trolling’ Democrats but takes no pleasure in shutdown
House Speaker Mike Johnson said President Trump is “trolling” congressional Democrats for shutting down the government but doesn’t like the pain the shutdown is inflicting.
Trump pauses $2.1B for Chicago infrastructure projects, leveraging shutdown to pressure Democrats
Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the Trump administration will withhold $2.1 billion for Chicago infrastructure projects, expanding funding fights that have targeted Democratic areas during the government shutdown.
