All articles tagged with #budgetcuts
Senate Republicans have reinstated significant Medicaid cuts in Trump's tax package to offset revenue losses, a move that may alienate moderate senators and impact healthcare funding, while the legislation aims to make tax cuts permanent and increase spending on military and border enforcement.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has laid off 100 contractors and is scaling back its Mars Sample Return mission due to a significant budget reduction. The mission's funding for this fiscal year is capped at $300 million, a sharp decrease from the previous year's $822 million and below the requested $949 million. This has led to a hiring freeze and the suspension of a key project within the mission. Lawmakers have criticized NASA's decision, emphasizing the mission's importance for American leadership in space science. The mission's final cost is estimated to be nearly $10 billion, and the cuts threaten the mission's timeline, American jobs, and competitiveness, especially in light of China's similar mission plans. The Mars Sample Return mission has been deemed the highest scientific priority by the planetary science community, but its funding challenges are causing concern for the balance of NASA's planetary science programs.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has warned of significant automatic cuts to nonmilitary federal spending if Congress fails to pass full-year government funding bills for 2024, as required by the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA). House Republicans, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, are pushing for lower spending levels and stringent anti-immigrant policies, risking cuts that would reduce nondefense spending from $777 billion to $736 billion, while military spending would slightly decrease from $860 billion to $850 billion. Democrats, including Rep. Brendan Boyle, criticize this approach as harmful and irresponsible, emphasizing the need for Congress to fulfill its duty to pass appropriate funding bills and avoid unnecessary austerity measures.