Economy News
The Daily Signal reports on economy news with analysis and commentary on growth, recession risks, employment, and financial trends.
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news
Why House Conservatives Prefer Debt Payoff to $5K DOGE Checks
Some House Republicans say they would rather use Department of Government Efficiency savings to pay off the national debt than to hand out the funds to taxpayers. President Donald Trump floated giving $5,000 stimulus checks to taxpaying households in February, saying: “We’re thinking about giving 20% back to the American citizens, and 20% down to… -
news
House Committee ‘Keeping a Watchful Eye’ on Labor Department’s Funding of Pro-Union Group Amid ‘Conflict of Interest’ Concerns
The House Committee on Education & the Workforce is monitoring the relationship between an agency within the Labor Department and the pro-union group the Solidarity Center following a recent Daily Signal report on a potential conflict of interest. "This report is deeply concerning and calls into question whether there was a significant conflict of interest,"… -
opinion
Rand Paul Is Right About the Debt
“Let’s talk about the deficit.” That is what Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor on Monday, June 2. “For years, Republicans screamed about fiscal responsibility. But now Republicans are backing a bill that could add over $50 trillion to the national debt over 30 years,” Schumer claimed—without citing a source—in… -
news
House Republicans Dispute CBO’s Deficit Scoring of ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’
The Congressional Budget Office, Congress’ scorekeeper on the fiscal impact of legislation, released a report Wednesday predicting a deficit increase if Republicans’ “big, beautiful” budget reconciliation bill is enacted. Republicans dispute that claim, contending that those predictions come from a misguided view of the economy. The report projects that the House bill would heap an… -
news
House Budget Hawks Cheer DOGE Package
The White House’s delivery to the House of Representatives of a package that would codify some of the Department of Government Efficiency’s cuts into law was greeted with enthusiasm by the fiscally hawkish House Freedom Caucus on Tuesday. The rescissions package, delivered by the White House Office of Management and Budget to Republican House leadership,… -
opinion
Trump’s Second Term Gains Momentum as Economy Soars, Borders Tighten
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of his videos. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. We’re at four months now in the new Trump second administration. And a strange thing has… -
news
Ron Johnson on ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Spending: ‘It’s Immoral’
As a Republican holdout on the “big, beautiful” budget bill, as President Donald Trump calls it, Sen. Ron Johnson thinks he has a fairly simple request for the 10-year budget plan: Go back to the drawing board and cut spending down to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. “That pretty well sums it up in one chart,” said… -
news
Labor Department Confirms Bureaucrat on Leave Amid Woke Conflict of Interest Questions
A nonprofit that supports unions across the world received extra infusions of cash from a federal agency after one of the union group’s employees took a leadership role at the agency. She later went on to serve as the agency’s acting chief of staff. Lauren Stewart spent 15 years at the Solidarity Center, a left-leaning… -
opinion
Musk’s Worthy DOGE Spotlight and the Fiscal Path Forward
On Wednesday evening, the world’s wealthiest man announced that his sojourn in the nation’s capital is almost over. “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President [Donald Trump] for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Elon Musk posted to X, the social media platform… -
news
Changes to ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ to Cost Extra $140B Over 10 Years, Tax Panel Estimates
Want some extra SALT with those budgetary fries? It will cost you. The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation has released its latest cost estimates on the latest House budget proposal, which includes a quadrupling of the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions on federal taxes. The projections suggest late compromises on issues such… -
news
Elon Musk ‘Disappointed’ in ‘Big, Beautiful’ Spending Bill
Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk told CBS News Tuesday he is “disappointed” in the spending codified in Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill.” “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” the Tesla CEO… -
news
How a ‘Nonpartisan’ Government Budget Office May Be Misleading Lawmakers on Spending as GOP Megabill Looms Large
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—The agency providing Congress with cost estimates—including projections for the GOP’s major reconciliation bill—has a long history of inaccuracy and bias, according to some policy experts and lawmakers. Established in 1975, the Congressional Budget Office was created to “provide objective, nonpartisan information to support the Congressional budget process and to help the Congress make… -
opinion
Romania, Bulgaria Must Increase Defense Spending to Strengthen NATO’s Critical Southeastern Flank
Although last year provided evidence of great improvement, Romania and Bulgaria still need to continue increasing their defense spending to strengthen NATO’s southeastern flank. Both nations spent over 2% of their gross domestic product—the measure of the total value of goods and services their countries’ produced—on their defense in 2024. Two percent is currently the… -
opinion
Belgium’s Defense Deficit: Why 2% Can’t Wait Until 2029
With June’s NATO summit likely to call for substantial increases in member defense spending, increased scrutiny awaits those NATO members that still haven’t reached even the 2% spending minimum—a minimum that’s been required for well over a decade. One of the more notorious NATO free riders is Belgium, which has skated by while spending only… -
news
House-Passed Budget Bill Defunds Planned Parenthood
House Republicans delivered on their promise to defund Big Abortion on Thursday by passing the budget reconciliation bill that has consumed Washington’s attention for the past three months. In the bill, the House GOP removed Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions in the country. The effort had been supported by dozens of… -
news
House Strengthens Budget Provision Blocking Medicaid Coverage for Sex Changes
House Republicans secured a provision in the “big, beautiful bill” prohibiting taxpayer funding for all gender-transition procedures. The House Rules Committee’s Wednesday night markup strengthened a provision from the Energy and Commerce Committee preventing Medicaid, CHIP, and Affordable Care Act funding of gender transitions only for minors. The Rules Committee markup struck “for minors” and… -
news
House Freedom Caucus Presses for Budget Agreement With Trump, Johnson
Don’t count on the budget reconciliation bill passing the House today. That appeared to be the message from leading House Freedom Caucus members, who said they were working on a deal with the White House and House GOP leadership. “We are greatly encouraged by the progress that’s been made in the last 24 hours,” said… -
news
Mainstream Republicans Hope for Unity on Budget Bill After Trump Visit to Capitol
After President Donald Trump’s Tuesday meeting with the House GOP Conference, moderate Republicans are hoping that his stern command to unify will bring holdouts into line to vote for the budget reconciliation bill. “Listen, the president spoke in a very strong way about the need to quit screwing around and pass this bill. And that… -
news
4 Takeaways From RFK’s Health and Human Services Budget Testimony
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified Tuesday before a Senate panel about waste in his department, as Democrats became testy over several points. During the hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, Kennedy noted, “This agency has a budget that is comparable… -
news
Budget Committee Passes ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ After Negotiations
The House Budget Committee advanced the Republican budget reconciliation bill Sunday night after three days of negotiations brought enough additional cost-saving proposals to convince four GOP budget hawks to reverse their initial opposition. The bill passed by a 17-16 margin, with all Democrats on the committee voting against it. The bill, if it passes the…