President Biden closed his last full fiscal year with a $ 1.833 trillion deficit, marking the worst nonpandemic year in history and raising fears the government is heading for an uncontrollable fiscal spiral. The Washington Times stories: White House
Read More...The Bureau of Fiscal Service in the Treasury Department has a stretch goal — help prevent $ 12 billion in improper payments by 2029. Luckily for the bureau, Congress gave it some much needed help to improve its Do Not Pay database. The Fiscal Service now has access to the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File, which contains over 83 million records of deaths that have been reported to SSA. Tim Gribben, the commissioner of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, said Congress gave the agency access on a pilot…
Read More...Indecision mixed with turmoil and partisan politics. That’s the familiar brew on Capitol Hill this week. With precisely two weeks until the fiscal year ends, there’s no clear path to any budget deal at the moment. So it’s a busy week as we heard from Bloomberg Government deputy news director Loren Duggan on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Interview transcript: Loren Duggan Here we are. Every September, we have to do this dance where we figure out if the government will stay funded going into the new fiscal year.…
Read More...When discussing budgets, President Joe Biden often uses a quote that he attributes to his father: “Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget—and I’ll tell you what you value.” If the administration’s latest budget is any indication, Biden doesn’t value America’s future. 1) More Spending and Debt A president’s budget is a request to Congress and can be thought of as a wish list rather than an all-or-nothing demand. Administrations typically lay out an ambitious policy agenda that’s unlikely to happen. Incredibly, even the Biden administration’s wish…
Read More...The Biden administration, expecting Congress will need more time to pass a comprehensive spending package for fiscal 2023, is requesting $ 47 billion in emergency funds to last through the end of the calendar year. Nearly half the funding would go toward the federal government’s response to COVID-19. That includes the rollout of updated booster shots approved this week by the Food and Drug Administration and restarting a program to deliver free COVID-19 rapid tests to households. The administration is also seeking emergency funding for the first quarter of fiscal…
Read More...<p><em>Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Subscribe to Federal Drive’s daily audio interviews on </em><a href=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/federal-drive-with-tom-temin/id1270799277?mt=2″><i>Apple Podcasts</i></a><em> or <a href=”https://www.podcastone.com/federal-drive-with-tom-temin?pid=1753589″>PodcastOne</a>.</em></p> <p>China can’t do anything to prevent Congress from passing a budget on time for 2023. But the China competitiveness bill could do just that. With the year-end just three months away now, legislative arguments over the bill threaten budget talks. For how, the <a href=”https://federalnewsnetwork.com/category/temin/tom-temin-federal-drive/”><em><strong>Federal Drive with Tom Temin</strong></em></a> turns to WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller.</p> <p><em>Interview transcript:</em></p> <blockquote><p><strong>Tom Temin: </strong>Mitchell, what is going on with the China bill and the…
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