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.

Charity Will Pay Military Death Benefits in Shutdown

By Phil Stewart and Roberta Rampton, Reuters

A private U.S. charity struck a deal with the Pentagon on Wednesday to advance a "death gratuity" to families of American troops who die during the government shutdown, after the Defense Department...
The Senate Tries to Break the Shutdown Stalemate

By Eric Pianin

With House Republicans seemingly spinning their wheels on ideas for ending the government shutdown and avoiding a first-ever default, Senate Democrats and a few Republicans declared on Tuesday that...
Obama and Boehner Star in “War of the Words"

By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

The government could teeter into default after Oct. 17, but President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner did little to settle their budgetary grudge match on Tuesday. Instead, both men played the...
Inexcusable Republican Tactics Endanger the Economy

By Mark Thoma

Why are the unemployed so invisible in Washington? Why has Congress all but forgotten about the millions and millions of people who want a job but cannot find one, not to mention all the people who...
GOP Wants to Talk, but Will We Get Any Action?

By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

House Speaker John Boehner said all he wants is a “conversation” about the budget and the debt ceiling, before the week-old government shutdown is joined by what could be a recession-inducing default...

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