Government spending

The U.S. trade deficit in July surged to a five-month high, $50.1 billion, as exports of products like soybeans and civilian aircraft fell, while imports reached record levels. President Donald Trump regularly complains about trade deficits, but his own spending policies tend to undermine the goal of lowering the trade gap. One part of the […]

Federal agencies are now trying to figure out how to spend billions of dollars in the next six months. President Donald Trump signed the $1.3 trillion spending bill Congress sent him last week, unleashing funding for fiscal year 2018, which is already half over. It’s a use-it-or-lose it situation for federal agencies. Click the audio player […]

Today, the White House outlined a $1.5 trillion plan to deal with our nation’s infrastructure problems — everything from waterways to highways to commercial space infrastructure. But the federal government plans to provide just $200 billion of that $1.5 trillion. Where would the rest come from? Mostly from state and local governments, who already feel burdened […]

President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act today. It calls for around $700 billion in defense spending for fiscal year 2018. That would blow right through the spending caps Congress agreed to back in 2011. Congress has to vote to modify those caps, if it wants to spend this much money on defense. […]