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Musk-led DOGE has access to the U.S. Treasury's payment system. What will they do with it?

Feb 3, 2025
Wendy Edelberg of Brookings says "political malpractice" might be a bigger risk to economic stability than the government's massive borrowing.
Demonstrators gather outside U.S. Agency for International Development headquarters in support of USAID funding.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Image

What was (and wasn't) accomplished in D.C. this past year

While the passage of legislation in Congress has largely been stalled by political drama, impacts from the CHIPS Act and infrastructure law are starting to be felt.

We have a debt ceiling deal. So what happens next?

Jun 2, 2023
Now, agencies and Congress need to figure out how to implement the thing.
Congress will soon have to turn broad spending limits into actual appropriations bills for the next fiscal year.
Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Is Washington finally getting serious about the debt ceiling?

Every day there's a warning about how catastrophic a default on the national debt would be. What's it going to take to avoid that?
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
Win McNamee/Getty Images

Clawing back unspent COVID funds might contribute to a debt ceiling solution — but not much

May 15, 2023
The exact amount left from pandemic spending bills could be as little as $30 billion — a fraction of this year’s federal deficit.
Congress passed six COVID spending bills totaling $4.6 trillion, according to the Government Accountability Office. But most of that money is already gone.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

What would it take to balance the federal budget?

Feb 8, 2023
You need the courage to make cuts, the wisdom to negotiate and luck, says Linda Bilmes, who worked in the Clinton administration.

For public good, not for profit.

Breaking down the $31.4 trillion national debt

Jan 27, 2023
There are public holders and government agencies, which all comes into play in the congressional debt ceiling battle.
The national debt is made up of two big pieces — intragovernmental holdings and IOUs held by the public. Above, the U.S. Capitol dome seen through a glass ceiling.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The economic legacy of the Jan. 6 insurrection is "intertwined" with the pandemic

Jan 6, 2022
“So much is good about the recovery,” said Wendy Edelberg of the Brookings Institution. Yet “we’re still in the midst of chaos.”
Protesters loyal to Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021. The nation's political instability, said Wendy Edelberg of Brookings, "makes me nervous for the year ahead."
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images