By Martin Crutsinger
The U.S. budget deficit hit an all-time high of $3 trillion for the first 11 months of this budget year, the Treasury Department said Friday.
The ocean of red ink is a product of the government's massive spending to try to cushion the impact of a coronavirus-fueled recession that has cost millions of jobs.
The deficit from October through August is more than double the previous 11-month record of $1.37 billion set in 2009. At that time the government was spending large sums to get out of the Great Recession triggered by the 2008 financial crisis.
With one month to go in the 2020 budget year, which ends Sept. 30, the deficit could go even higher. The Congressional Budget Office is forecasting the deficit this year will hit a record of $3.3 trillion. However, the government often runs surpluses in September so it is possible the final figure for this year could come in just under $3 trillion.
That would still put the deficit well above last year's imbalance of $984 billion. The previous record deficit for a fiscal year was $1.4 trillion in 2009 in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
To many observers, the efforts to roll back two policies that disproportionately help Black students and other students of color reflect a backlash to racial progress in higher education.
Most GOP-controlled states have already imposed bans, including 14 at every stage of pregnancy.
Former Texas Republican Congressman Will Hurd announced he is running for president.
The Supreme Court ruled that a man convicted to 27 years in prison on gun charges won't be able to challenge his conviction.
A Florida judge has struck down a ruling that banned Medicaid payments for transgender healthcare in the state.
A Moscow court on Thursday ruled that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich must remain in jail on espionage charges until at least late August, rejecting the American journalist’s appeal to be released.
The Supreme Court ruled against the Navajo Nation on Thursday in a dispute involving water from the drought-stricken Colorado River.
A resolution to impeach President Joe Biden is likely to face a House vote this week as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy remains opposed to it right now.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito accepted a 2008 trip to a luxury fishing lodge in Alaska from two wealthy Republican donors, one of whom repeatedly had interests before the court, and he did not disclose the trips on his financial disclosure for that year, ProPublica reports.
President Joe Biden made his first public comments about his son Hunter Biden's plea deal with federal prosecutors on two misdemeanor tax charges. This follows several critical comments by Republicans, who blasted the agreement as a "sweetheart deal."
