Government Shutdown

Congress Averts Shutdown, Passes a Five Month $1.1 Trillion Spending Package

By Eric Pianin

GOP and Democratic negotiators struck a final deal over the weekend for a roughly $1.1 trillion spending package to carry the government through the remainder of the fiscal year – a plan that...
Renewed Fight Over Obamacare Could Prompt Government Shutdown

By Eric Pianin

The bitter partisan warfare over health care reform intensified on Thursday when congressional Democrats threatened to shut down the government this weekend if House Republicans try to move forward...
12 Reasons Another Government Shutdown Would Hurt the Country

By Eric Pianin

The last time the federal government was shut down nearly four years ago, hundreds of adults and children were temporarily denied access to National Institutes of Health (NIH) cancer clinical trials...
Can Trump’s Wall Really Pay for Itself Over 10 Years?

By Rob Garver

The original plan for President Trump’s border wall, repeated ad nauseam on the campaign trail, was that it would be paid for by Mexico. On Sunday, though, Attorney General Jeff Sessions floated a...
Trump Pushes Congress to the Wall to Avoid a Government Shutdown

By Rob Garver

The already-complicated effort to avert a government shutdown on April 29 is taking on another layer of complexity, with the White House demanding that any spending measure that funds the federal...

Why You Might Not Get Your Tax Refund on Time This Year

By Rob Garver

Every year, millions of Americans anxiously await the annual infusion of cash from the Internal Revenue Service when it pays back excess withholding from the previous year. However, according to the...
After Their Break, Congress Will Have 4 Days to Avoid a Shutdown

By Eric Pianin and Rob Garver

When members of the House of Representatives return to Washington from a nearly three-week break at the end of the month, they will have left themselves just four legislative days to come to some...
Trump Hands Democrats Another Reason to Shut Down the Government

By Rob Garver

With representatives of both major parties making optimistic noises about their ability to come together on a bill that would allow the government to remain open once the current temporary spending...
The Clock Is Ticking on a Government Shutdown: 5 Things You Need to Know

By Rob Garver

As Congress prepares to leave town for another break, the Senate has been focused on the effort to confirm (or deny) Neil Gorsuch as a justice of the Supreme Court. The GOP House is desperate to show...
Why Another Government Shutdown Is Suddenly in the Cards

By Rob Garver

The clock is already ticking on the Trump administration and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s next showdown with recalcitrant Republican lawmakers.

Senate Close to a Debt Deal that Stops the Bleeding

By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell finally appear to be getting their act together, but the budget and debt ceiling drama is far from over. On Monday, the two...
The Ultimate DC Insider’s 3 Big Tips For a Debt Deal

By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

Few Washington insiders have ever had the depth and breadth of experience as Leon Panetta, who on Monday shared his thoughts for getting out of the current budget and the debt ceiling morass ...
Dysfunctional Debt Crisis Rings Alarm Bells Abroad

By David Francis

Panic began to set in around the world on Monday, as talks between Republicans and Democrats aimed at raising the U.S. debt ceiling broke down over the weekend. The fiscal standoff in Washington...
Debt Limit Crisis Just Hit the 2 Minute Warning

By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

As the NFL dug into its sixth week of action on Sunday, the Senate reached the equivalent of the two-minute warning on the debt limit. In just four days without a debt ceiling increase, the...
Deal or No Deal, the U.S. Has Its Eye off the Ball

By Lawrence Summers, Reuters

This month Washington is consumed by the impasse over reopening the government and raising the debt limit. It seems likely that this episode, like the 1995-96 government shutdowns and the 2011 debt...

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