All articles tagged with #us budget
Spain has offered to fund up to €400 million to host the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on La Palma, Canary Islands, as U.S. budget cuts threaten its construction in Hawaii, potentially shifting a major scientific project abroad due to funding and site challenges.
President Trump stated that the US should not be bound by NATO's 5% defense spending goal, suggesting that only NATO countries should meet that target, which could cause tension ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague. Most NATO members currently spend just over 2%, with some like Poland and the Baltic states committed to 5%, while others like Spain oppose setting specific targets. The US's current defense spending is at 3.4%, lower than during the Cold War, and there is debate over realistic spending levels among allies.
The White House budget director dismissed fears that proposed benefit cuts in a US spending bill could lead to deaths, despite concerns from advocacy groups and politicians about the potential hardships and health impacts, including hospital closures and increased poverty.
US Congress leaders have reached a bipartisan spending deal totaling $1.6tn for the rest of 2024, including $886bn for defense and over $704bn for non-defense spending, as they aim to avoid a government shutdown. The agreement, which still needs approval from the House of Representatives and Senate, includes provisions demanded by both Democrats and Republicans, but has faced criticism from some conservative Republicans. Negotiations are ongoing for a separate bill involving $50bn of military aid to Ukraine, with disagreements over migration policy at the US southern border.
The US budget deficit for fiscal year 2023 reached $1.7 trillion, a 23% increase from the previous year, according to Treasury Department data. However, if the impact of President Biden's federal student debt cancellation plan, which was struck down by the Supreme Court, is excluded, the deficit effectively doubled to about $2 trillion. Lower tax revenues and increased spending on entitlement programs contributed to the widening deficit. The growing debt load will become costlier as interest payments rise, posing long-term fiscal challenges for the US. The deficit data will likely complicate Congress' efforts to reach a federal spending deal before government funding runs out next month.