Taxes & Budget
Coverage of the national budget and your taxes.
Tax hawks warn farm bill threatens to raise price at the pump
Americans for Tax Reform calculated that the Agricultural Act provision allowing for year-round high-ethanol gasoline would increase fuel costs for Americans.
DOGE exaggerated its savings; GAO audit questions 96% of Musk office’s claims
President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency made grand claims about the savings it earned taxpayers — but much of those never came to pass.
SNAP’s fraud problem meets a slow fix: Chip cards arrive state by state
Vulnerable food stamp recipients are finding their cards empty due to hidden “skimming” devices that criminals plant on ordinary card readers, turning government assistance into a $1 billion-a-year ruse.
Senate seeks return to bipartisanship with government funding stopgap, sanctions bill
The Senate is aiming to spend its final two weeks before a monthlong summer recess showing bipartisanship still exists.
Trump slaps new tariffs on 60 trading partners, backfilling blanket tariffs Congress let expire
The Trump administration announced Thursday that it will impose tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 countries that failed to enforce bans on goods produced with forced labor.
Cato Institute flags risks as wealth-tax proposals gain steam in U.S., abroad
A libertarian think tank is raising fresh concerns about the renewed push for wealth taxes on the ultra-rich, arguing that countries that tried them mostly backed away — and for reasons policymakers should remember.
House Oversight moves bill to veto D.C. tax raises in response to prospective socialist mayor
The Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would give Congress veto power over the District’s attempts to raise taxes and fees, in what the bill’s top sponsor framed as a bulwark against a likely socialist mayor.
Prince George’s project earmarked for diverted park funds has no paper trail
The biggest pet project earmarked for funds diverted from public parks in Prince George’s County’s disputed budget has no traceable public financial records in Maryland, records show.
House passes stopgap bill to fund government as Senate eyes alternative
The House passed a bill Tuesday evening that would keep the government funded through Dec. 4, but the Senate is preparing an alternative stopgap measure.
Hegseth facing questions from Congress about emergency spending package
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are testifying Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee, where they’re expected to face questioning over the Trump administration’s $87 billion emergency supplemental spending package and escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict.
Trump slaps 50% tariffs on new list of Canadian goods in response to boycotts of U.S. alcohol, dairy
President Trump plans to impose 50% tariffs on a variety of Canadian goods, such as hockey sticks and cement, in retaliation for Canada’s treatment of American exports of alcohol, dairy and motor vehicles.
Trump urges House Republicans to unify on budget plan to pass SAVE America Act
President Trump is lobbying House Republicans to support a budget resolution needed to unlock the filibuster-proof reconciliation process that could help pass pieces of his priority election integrity legislation.
Socialists’ agenda takes hold in America’s cities and towns, while their foothold grows in Congress
America’s new class of socialist leaders is imposing their agendas on some of the nation’s cities, scaring businesses and the wealthy with tax increases while expanding services for the poor and working class, whom they say have long been ignored.
House GOP’s ‘reconciliation 3.0’ runs into Senate roadblocks
House Republicans say they limited their ambitions for a third party-line spending package to make it easier to get through the Senate, but the ploy does not appear to be working.
Trump administration sues to stop Maryland from giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrants
The Department of Justice has sued to end Maryland’s law that allows illegal immigrants to get in-state tuition rates.
House GOP eyes early vote on stopgap funding bill to keep government open through election
House Republican leaders are planning to hold a vote next week on a stopgap funding bill to prevent a government shutdown this fall in an early test of Democrats’ appetite for forcing another appropriations lapse.
New DHS rule will penalize immigrants who use welfare
The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that it has made it easier for officers to block green-card applications from immigrants who claimed welfare, revoking a Biden-era rule that officials said was too lenient and had “straitjacketed” the department.
Comer moves to give Congress veto power over D.C. tax hikes
House Oversight Chairman James Comer introduced legislation on Thursday that would require congressional approval of any act passed by the D.C. Council that would impose or increase a tax or fee.
