Budget cuts

President Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney, made some waves a few weeks ago when he defended cuts to the community development block grant program because “We can’t spend money on programs just because they sound good.” It can be hard to justify spending on things like Meals on Wheels or children’s after school-programs, because their […]

The dramatic downturn in coal and oil prices a couple of years ago may have been good for consumers, but it was very bad news for the economies of many energy-producing states. The consequences are now being particularly felt in Oklahoma, Alaska, North Dakota and Wyoming. In recent months, these states have begun cutting funding […]

President Donald Trump’s proposed budget is known as the skinny budget, the basic outline of what the president’s priorities are. It’s a bit like an expanded version of one of his tweets. It’s a long way from what the actual budget will be, but it is a window into his thinking when it comes to […]

The Trump administration, in its “skinny budget,” has proposed cutting $9 billion, or about 13 percent, of the education budget. That includes more than a billion dollars for after-school enrichment programs for kids in high-poverty schools.  Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

City and state agencies that provide vouchers and housing subsidies for low-income residents could be hit hard by proposed deep cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to the Washington Post. It reports documents it obtained show $6 billion in cuts to the agency in the Trump administration’s budget outline. About $1.3 […]

Marketplace's Adriene Hill explains the rising cost of school supplies being handed to parents.

The Air Force turns to rank and file to ferret out waste, following the example of the private sector.

It’s not the first time Washington has cut budgets across the board. But even when sequesters were much smaller, they were a nightmare to carry out.

Some federal employees stand to lose as much as 20 percent of their wages because of the sequester.