Deficit

Reaction from Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., on 'Bill Hemmer Reports'

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., responds to president-elect's news conference on 'Bill Hemmer Reports'

Over the past decade, the U.S. government spent nearly $100 billion on preparation for major health crises including pandemics, according to a 2018 paper on such funding -- though the coronavirus outbreak still had Washington and states across the country scrambling to muster supplies and respond when it hit. 

President Trump, thanks to high deficits in his first two full years in office followed by massive federal expenditures aimed at offsetting the economic effects of the coronavirus crisis, is on pace to add more to the national debt in his first term than did former President Barack Obama, whom Republicans often criticized for irresponsible spending. 

The U.S. government is poised to spend an unprecedented sum of money on its response to the coronavirus crisis, with a potential final price tag of nearly $5 trillion if lawmakers get the full extent of what they're seeking in as many as five separate bills.  

Many Americans gripe about the national debt, but in Washington, nothing much really changes.

A bipartisan budget watchdog released a report Monday detailing options for how the federal government could pay for "Medicare-for-all," the health care plan popular with 2020 Democratic presidential contenders -- and its findings show there would be no way to fund the expanded health program by simply raising taxes on the rich. 

Deficits and debt pile up under both Republican and Democrats; will it ever stop?

Congressional Budget Office director Phill Swagel discusses the U.S. budget deficit on 'Your World.'

The Congressional Budget Office revised its economic outlook after Congress voted to terminate old spending limitations which kept some federal expenditures in check; senior Capitol Hill producer Chad Pergram reports.