Key negotiator of Paris climate agreement says pulling out is 'inexplicable'

Jun 1, 2017
"The notion that the U.S. taxpayer is being robbed and that our economy is going to be crushed by the or by the U.S. emissions target under the Paris agreement just is not right."
Actor and climate activist Leonardo DiCaprio speaks at the United Nations Signing Ceremony for the Paris Agreement climate change accord on April 22, 2016.
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Britain balks at Brexit bill

May 30, 2017
The European Union says the United Kingdom must pay big for leaving the bloc.
JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images

Should the Treasury take charge of managing student loans?

May 26, 2017
The Department of Education isn’t your typical go-to for high drama in Washington, D.C. But this week hasn’t been typical. First, President Trump’s budget proposal called for drastic cuts to the department’s budget. Then, James Runcie, who oversaw the office that manages the federal government’s $1.3 trillion student loan portfolio, walked. In a rather critical […]

Lifting Argentine lemon ban will cost U.S. growers

May 26, 2017
'We get nailed,' a California citrus trade group says.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Proposed cuts to SNAP target families of more than six people

May 26, 2017
The White House budget proposal would cut SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program known as food stamps, by $193 billion over 10 years. Right now a family of six gets about $900 a month in food aid. Under Trump’s proposal, that would be the cap, even for households with more people. Many families that receive […]

The administration has based its budget on 3 percent GDP. What happens if we don’t get there?

May 25, 2017
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin faced his second day of grilling on Capitol Hill today, this time appearing before the Senate Finance Committee to discuss his boss’s proposed budget for next year. Baked into that budget is the assumption that the U.S. economy will start growing at 3 percent or higher by the year 2021, which […]

Tax collectors are crying poor

May 25, 2017
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney were on Capitol Hill this week sounding the alarm on the debt ceiling. That’s the limit on how much debt the government can rack up. Mnuchin and Mulvaney said Congress might have to lift or suspend the debt limit sooner than planned. […]

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Here's why so much news seems to break late in the day

May 25, 2017
Even the White House is said to dread what's coming at cocktail hour on the East Coast.
In general, "there are usually two times of day when newsmakers are most likely to time their news," says Paul Niwa, a journalism professor at Emerson College.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Breaking down the new CBO score on the House's health care act

May 24, 2017
The Congressional Budget Office estimates 23 million more Americans will be without insurance by 2026 under the amended bill.
 President Trump and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan in the White House Rose Garden after the House of Representative passed the health care bill on May 4.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images