Budget Battles
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House Votes to Dodge Shutdown, Ditching Trump Demand
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Trump-Approved Spending Plan Goes Down in Flames
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Trump Blows Up Johnson’s Bipartisan Spending Deal
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Republicans Fume Over ‘Dumpster Fire’ Funding Bill
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Congress Struggles to Reach Deal to Avert Government Shutdown
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GOP Hardliners Say Border Bill Should Come Before Tax Cuts
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Senate Tees Up Vote on a Social Security Boost for Millions
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Why the Price of the F-35 Keeps Soaring
By Ciro ScottiThe most costly fighter ever built is getting even more expensive. A new General Accounting Office report says the Pentagon will spend an additional $3.9 billion over the next five years on “...
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What a Waste—Senate Health Care Debate Squanders Time and Millions for Nothing
By Rob Garver and Eric PianinFor Republican leaders in the Senate, watching their first two attempts to pass a health care bill this week fail badly in floor votes must have been extra painful as they plainly knew in advance...
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The Pentagon Skips Out on a $10 Billion Debt
By Eric PianinBy law, the free-spending Defense Department is required to implement a plan to achieve at least $10 billion in administrative cost savings within the next two years. But the Government...
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Can Congress Finally Stop Wasting $100 Billion a Year in Erroneous Payments?
By Eric PianinIn response to repeated prodding by the General Accounting Office and other government watchdogs, the House Budget Committee is calling for creation of a special commission to crack down on...
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Homeland Security Did Not Report $3.5 Million Spent on Conferences
By Eric PianinThe behemoth Department of Homeland Security violated federal rules when they neglected to report nearly two dozen conferences sponsored by the agency in 2014 and 2015 at an overall cost of more than...
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The Latest FBI Mess: The $2 Billion Project to Build Its New Headquarters
By Eric PianinThe FBI’s once imposing fortress-like headquarters in downtown Washington is in shambles today, with netting hanging from the façade to prevent broken concrete from hitting passing tourists. Inside,...
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The Navy’s Argument for Building Another $500 Million Combat Ship Doesn’t Hold Water
By Ciro ScottiUnder pressure from the White House, the Navy agreed to add a second Littoral Combat Ship to its 2018 budget despite grave concerns about the capabilities of the vessel. The stated reason was to save...
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How a No-Show Worker Scammed the VA Out of $100,000
By Eric PianinA former research investigator at a VA health facility in Oklahoma City scammed the government out of more than $100,000 by claiming thousands of hours of work while he was drawing a salary at a...
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Ouch! Mylan May Have Overcharged the US More Than $1 Billion for EpiPens
By Rob GarverThe federal government appears to have shelled out more than $1.27 billion in overpayments to the drug company Mylan, which holds the patent on the widely-used EpiPen, an auto-injector for...
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How Bad Is Drug Theft at VA Hospitals? Feds Pursue Dozens of New Cases
By Eric PianinIn the last few months, the VA inspector general’s office opened 36 criminal investigations into alleged drug theft by employees at veterans hospitals, bringing the number of open criminal...
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How Will We Pay the $6 Trillion Bill for the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
By Linda J. Bilmes, The ConversationOn Memorial Day, we pay respects to the fallen from past wars – including the more than one million American soldiers killed in the Civil War, World Wars I and II, Korea and Vietnam. Yet the nation’s...
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5 Ways Trump’s Big Talk About Supporting Our Troops Falls Short
By Ciro ScottiOn the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised troops and veterans the moon, and they supported him big time. But his 2018 budget proposal doesn’t match the pre-election rhetoric.
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Trump Budget Finds $0 in Wasteful Pentagon Programs. Are They Kidding?
By Rob GarverIn assembling the budget as proposed on Tuesday, the Trump administration dove deep into the weeds of the executive branch, finding programs that it deems wasteful or unnecessary and targeting them...
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9 Top Takeaways From Trump’s $4 Trillion Federal Budget
By Rob Garver and Eric PianinThe early days of Donald Trump’s presidency have been confusing for both his supporters and his detractors, as his administration has alternately embraced and backed away from positions he took on...
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Yet Another Attempt to Audit the Pentagon. Good Luck With That
By Eric PianinHundreds of billions of improper payments by the government to contractors, physicians, beneficiaries and others could well be just the tip of the iceberg of federal funds being squandered because of...