Mar 12 WATCH: HHS Secretary Azar defends proposed cuts to Medicare hospital payments By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Catherine Lucey, Associated Press The administration argues that the budget doesn't cut Medicare benefits to seniors but makes better use of taxpayers' dollars and helps reduce Medicare spending by lowering prescription drug costs. Continue reading
Mar 05 U.S. budget deficit up 77 percent so far this budget year By Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press The higher deficit reflected greater spending in areas such as Social Security, defense and interest payments on the national debt. Meanwhile, the government collected lower taxes from individuals and corporations, reflecting the impact of the $1.5 trillion tax cut President… Continue reading
Dec 26 How the government shutdown compared to every other since 1976 By Gretchen Frazee, Lisa Desjardins The most recent 35-day government shutdown marked the 21st time the federal government has shuttered in 42 years. Continue reading
Oct 18 Watch 7:27 Why the federal deficit is rising, despite economic growth With the close of the government's fiscal year, numbers out this week show the federal budget deficit taking a 17 percent jump from 2017, despite significant economic growth. John Yang takes a closer look into the data and speaks with… Continue watching
Feb 12 Watch 5:54 Here’s what Trump’s spending proposal would fund and cut By PBS News Hour President Trump unveiled his long-awaited infrastructure plan to fix roads, bridges and airports on Monday, as well as his $4.4 trillion outline of spending priorities. But the plan was overshadowed by internal struggles at the White House, and questions of… Continue watching
Feb 06 Watch 9:18 Trump talks about a shutdown over immigration, but Congress takes a different tack By PBS News Hour In Washington, immigration and spending are on a collision course -- with a Thursday night deadline. The House and Senate moved on separate tracks Tuesday to avert a new government shutdown, while President Trump dared Democrats not to cooperate. Lisa… Continue watching
Dec 20 Watch 4:52 News Wrap: Tied Virginia state legislature battle will be decided by drawing names By PBS News Hour In our news wrap Wednesday, Virginia's vacant state legislative seat has come down to a tie. Judges ruled today that candidates Shelly Simonds and David Yancey are dead even, after Simonds had been originally told she won by a single… Continue watching
Dec 19 Watch 8:04 Sweeping GOP bill set to revamp U.S. tax code, slash corporate rate By PBS News Hour For Republican lawmakers, it's a day to celebrate. Cheers went up as the GOP tax overhaul received House passage, signalling the end of a legislative sprint to get the bill wrapped up by Christmas. Lisa Desjardins joins Judy Woodruff to… Continue watching
Oct 20 Watch How passing a budget makes GOP tax reform possible By PBS News Hour Congressional Republicans cleared a big hurdle Thursday by pushing a budget resolution through the Senate that will allow them to pass tax reform. Hari Sreenivasan sits down with Lisa Desjardins to discuss why it matters and what’s next in the… Continue watching
Aug 30 House GOP plans to cut disaster aid fund likely won’t survive Harvey By Andrew Taylor and Alan Fram, Associated Press The disaster relief cut was proposed to finance President Trump's border wall well before Harvey. The politically bad optics are sure to lead lawmakers to do an about face, though that would create a money crunch in homeland security accounts. Continue reading