Congressional Budget Office

On this Memorial Day weekend, as we remember with deepest gratitude the sacrifice of America's military heroes, we also offer our thoughts and prayers for the victims of the Oklahoma tragedy. I've dedicated a half-dozen columns to the single most...

Think back -- back before we knew that the IRS was unacceptably targeting right-wing groups for scrutiny or that the Department of Justice was unbelievably searching the phone records of journalists. Think all the way back to February, when all anyone...

To hear Republicans — and some Democrats — in Congress talk, you'd think food-stamp dollars just disappear into a black hole. The prevailing debate in the Senate and House versions of the farm bill, which contains funding for food stamps...

WASHINGTON -- More than 100 conservative economists will call on Congress to approve an immigration overhaul, highlighting the potential economic benefits. The letter by the American Action Forum, to be released Thursday, is the latest volley from...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Wednesday threatened to veto legislation by House Republicans that would avert a doubling of student loan interest rates on July 1 but allow them to vary with the markets going forward. The White House...

When President Obama was selling his health care legislation to Congress, he declared that "the plan I'm proposing will cost around $900 billion over 10 years."�But with the law's major provisions set to kick in next year, a new analysis by the...

A tidal wave of individual income tax payments flooded federal and Connecticut coffers this April, surprising even budget officials, who should have seen it coming. The surge was cause primarily by a predictable increase in 2012 long-term capital gains...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said late Monday he will begin tapping into two government employee retirement funds to buy more time before the U.S. Treasury is faced with the prospect of defaulting on the national debt. In a letter...

For decades, war has been waged over the holy grail of America's Arctic frontier, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The wide coastal plain on the edge of the Beaufort Sea contains stunning populations of caribou, grizzly, musk oxen and other wildlife...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Five months into President Barack Obama's second term, allies and former top aides worry that his overarching goal of economic opportunity has been diminished, partly drowned out by controversies seized upon by Republicans in an...

By Tom Philpott Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the furlough of 680,000 civilian employees for one day a week, from early July through September, to avoid taking deeper cuts in training and maintenance, which could have degraded readiness to the...

WASHINGTON -- President Obama’s proposed mix of tax hikes and spending cuts would reduce future budget deficits more quickly than under current laws, according to a report issued Friday that could rekindle the dormant budget wars in Washington....