Government Spending & Fiscal Policy News

The Daily Signal examines federal and state spending, efforts to cut waste and deficits, and the role of the DOGE initiative, with in-depth reporting, analysis, and conservative commentary on taxpayer dollars and government efficiency.
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  • news

    By the Numbers: Sen. Ron Johnson Outlines Balanced Budget Proposal
    Returning to a balanced budget is feasible if the United States would return to pre-COVID-19-era spending levels, said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a member of the Senate Budget Committee.  He cited spending levels under President Bill Clinton and has said the rate of increase should be based on population and the rate of inflation, barring…
    Fred Lucas
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  • opinion

    Trump’s Spending Freeze Will Block Biden’s Leftist Legacy
    Amid all the uproar over President Donald Trump’s spending freeze—now delayed by a judge appointed by President Joe Biden—there’s some critical context missing. On Monday, the Office of Management and Budget sent a memo to federal agencies calling for a temporary pause on spending for grants, loans, and financial assistance. (On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge…
    David Ditch
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  • news

    Los Angeles Fire Budget Cut, Hundreds of Hydrants Stolen for Scrap Before Fires
    THE CENTER SQUARE—Hundreds of fire hydrants were stolen from the ground for scrap metal in advance of the blazes raging across Los Angeles, highlighting the local government’s challenges in maintaining basic order and infrastructure.  “These fire hydrant thefts are yet another sign of how crime is out of control in Los Angeles County,” said Los Angeles District…
    Kenneth Schrupp
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  • news

    NEW PATH FORWARD: Conservative Member Charts a Different Course After 2 Failed Must-Pass Spending Bills
    After the second must-pass bill to fund the government failed in the House of Representatives Thursday night, a conservative member who voted against the spending bill called for a new path forward. Republican and Democratic leadership in the House and Senate drafted a compromise bill, known as a continuing resolution, to fund the government through…
    Tyler O’Neil | Bradley Devlin
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  • news

    ‘Accountability Is Coming’: Iowa’s Ernst Sends Musk’s DOGE $2T Worth of Ways to Gut Government Spending 
    DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Sen. Joni Ernst sent Department of Government Efficiency cochairmen Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy a letter Monday with ideas for budget cuts that could save the federal government more than $2 trillion. Trump named Musk and Ramaswamy as cochairmen of DOGE on Nov. 12. In the seven-page letter, Ernst’s…
    Harold Hutchison
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  • news

    $7M BUDGET HOLE: Teachers Union Halts School for 2 Weeks Over ‘Unreasonable’ Demands
    The Massachusetts Education Association apparently pushed three neighboring teachers unions to go on strike at the same time, sources close to the unions say. Because of the strikes, schools in three districts in Massachusetts have been closed for over two weeks, leaving working parents in the lurch without child care and extending the school year…
    Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
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  • opinion

    GO WOKE GO BROKE: The Ultimate DEI Hire Is Out of a Job, Despite Spending More to Win
    It was the worst of times, it was the worst of times. Seriously, it was the worst of times! How could a half-black, half-Asian, comparatively young woman lose so handily to a straight white male?! Hasn’t Donald Trump learned that he’s the recipient of a veritable mountain of privilege? In the name of justice, he…
    Tyler O’Neil
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  • news

    NASA Spent Millions on ‘Environmental Justice’ and ‘Equity’ Grants Despite Budget Woes
    DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has shelled out millions in awards to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as “environmental justice,” despite recently laying off staff and shuttering space programs due to budgetary shortfalls. NASA has allocated roughly $10 million to pay out dozens of grants and contracts aimed at…
    Robert Schmad
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  • opinion

    America’s Bipartisan Spending Suicide Pact
    The greatest moral hazard in American life is politics. Many of you probably remember 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney being secretly recorded by a Democratic operative telling donors that “47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what” because they are “dependent upon government … believe that they are victims…
    David Harsanyi
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  • news

    BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: Speaker Johnson’s Next Move in Spending Fight
    It’s back to the drawing board for House Speaker Mike Johnson. On Wednesday, the House failed to pass the continuing resolution spending bill, with the SAVE Act attached, that would have funded the federal government beyond the end of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 and through March. Wednesday evening’s vote failed 202-220. Three Democrats—Reps….
    Bradley Devlin
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  • opinion

    Stopgap Spending Bill Disproportionately Hampers Military Funding
    With less than two weeks until the end of the fiscal year, a long-term continuing resolution is currently the best and most realistic option to constrain out-of-control government spending and avoid another lame-duck omnibus appropriations bill. However, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently sent a “parade of horribles” letter to Congress outlining the dangers of…
    Jeremy Hayes
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  • news

    House to Vote on Stopgap Spending Bill With SAVE Act Wednesday
    House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Tuesday morning that the House will move forward with a vote on Wednesday on a continuing resolution to fund the government beyond the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. The continuing resolution would fund the government for six months and avert the looming government shutdown. Johnson has also…
    Bradley Devlin
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  • opinion

    Reckless $15 Billion Budget Shortfalls Risk VA Benefits. These Low-Hanging Fruits Could Prioritize Veterans’ Well-Being.
    The men and women who’ve defended our nation should not have the veterans benefits they earned threatened by fiscal mismanagement. That’s why Republican lawmakers introduced a supplemental appropriations bill to provide an additional $2.9 billion to cover shortfalls in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ budget for fiscal year 2024.    However, this supplemental spending bill…
    Rachel Greszler
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  • news

    Speaker Johnson Pulls Spending Bill Vote Amid GOP Opposition
    House Speaker Mike Johnson has deferred the vote on a bill to fund the government through March. The temporary government-funding mechanism, called a continuing resolution, would have included the SAVE Act, an election-integrity measure meant to prevent illegal immigrants from voting in federal elections. Johnson has pulled the bill until next week in hopes of…
    Bradley Devlin
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  • opinion

    This Calculator Tells You the Size of Inflation’s Bite Into Your Household Budget
    While many economic pundits point to cooling inflation, The Heritage Foundation’s new Personal Inflation Calculator showcases the cumulative effect of inflation on the average American.   Since the Biden-Harris administration took office in January 2021, Americans have felt the pain of rising prices. The federal government’s excessive spending and borrowing habits led to record-high inflation….
    Nicole Huyer | Miles Pollard
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  • news

    These 2 Freedom Caucus Lawmakers Say They Won’t Support Spending Package Without SAVE Act
    Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Chip Roy, R-Texas, said they will only vote for the continuing resolution to fund the federal government beyond the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 if it includes the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship for voting. “It’s not enough to say it’s illegal,” Roy told…
    Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
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  • opinion

    Mike Johnson’s Opening Salvo in Upcoming Spending Fight
    Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are running out of time to court voters before Americans go to the polls on Nov. 5. But time is running out on another deadline before Election Day that has the potential to significantly affect the election and beyond. On Sept. 30, the end of fiscal…
    Bradley Devlin
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  • opinion

    Congressman Calls on Fellow GOP Lawmakers to Quit Jogging Toward ‘Fiscal Cliff’
    The House of Representatives returns next week to Washington, and a budget fight showdown is expected. The fiscal year ends Sept. 30, and Congress is tasked with having the fiscal 2025 budget ready to go by then, but it’s all but guaranteed it won’t be.  “What usually happens at this time is, we’ll get to…
    Virginia Allen
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  • news

    ‘Stop Illegals From Voting’: House Freedom Caucus Urges Amendment to Omnibus Spending Bill
    The conservative House Freedom Caucus is calling for Republican leadership in Congress to tie appropriations to fund the government next year to a recently passed House bill to prevent foreign nationals from voting in U.S. elections. In July, the House passed the SAVE Act—short for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. If enacted and signed…
    Fred Lucas
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  • news

    ‘Slightly Less Bad Version of Democrats’: Chip Roy Rips House Republicans for Enabling Big Government Spending
    ATLANTA—For too long, Republicans have caused the things they campaign against, like big government spending, Rep. Chip Roy said Saturday. “Republicans give lip service to wanting to … shrink the size of government,” the Texas Republican said at Erick Erickson’s The Gathering conference in Atlanta, “and they won’t do it.” Many Republican members of the…
    Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
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