Federal Budget, Spending Cuts | featured news

A senior banking regulator urged Congress to raise the federal debt ceiling to prevent a "calamitous" government debt default.

Republicans intend to stage a vote in the House next week on legislation to raise the nation's debt limit without requiring spending cuts, a measure expected to fail.

Well, no one can doubt anymore that Republicans are petrified that the Medicare cuts in Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget might cost them the 26th congressional district in New York, long a safe Republican seat, in the May 24 special election. It’s a classic technique in politics that if your opponent has found an issue that’s working against you, you turn the tables and declare your opponent’s position to be as bad as yours, or worse.

Republicans planned sharp cuts to foreign aid and education on Wednesday, while Democrats weighed a tax hike on millionaires, highlighting the yawning divide between the two parties in the budget debate.

The House speaker takes a hard line on increasing the nation's borrowing limit. A top Democrat says he's 'playing with fire.' House Speaker John A. Boehner said Monday that Republicans wanted trillions in budget cuts in exchange for their vote to increase the nation's borrowing limit and avoid default, adopting a hard line on the party's position in a speech before major players on Wall Street.

President Obama's deficit-reduction plan “falls short” of targets set by House Republicans and Obama's own fiscal commission and would be unlikely to stabilize borrowing, according to a new independent ...

Most Americans oppose the big spending cuts that many in Washington see as necessary to bring down the budget deficit, a new poll suggests, but they do support one idea for deficit reduction that President Barack Obama has pushed for years — raising taxes on the rich.

Federal wildlife officials say they will take more than 1,300 gray wolves in the Northern Rockies off the endangered species list within 60 days. An attachment to the budget bill signed into law Friday by President Barack Obama strips protections from wolves in five Western states.

Congress approved a $38-billion spending cut package Thursday, sealing a deal to prevent a government shutdown before plunging into an even more far-reaching debate over spending on federal programs and benefits for the years to come.

In the run-up to a vote, Speaker John Boehner predicted Thursday a $38 billion package of spending cuts would clear the House with a bipartisan majority and said it marks a first step in a longer Republican campaign to rein in federal deficits