Blog
Welcome to our blog – The Bottom Line, where you’ll find up-to-date commentary and analysis on the most important news in the fiscal world. Below is a list of our blog posts.
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House Highway Bill Costs At Least $100-$235 Billion Over a Decade
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee recently approved a five-year reauthorization of surface transportation programs – the BUILD...
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Marc Goldwein: Social Security is set to go insolvent unless leaders can make tough decisions on reform
Marc Goldwein is the senior vice president and senior policy director of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He recently wrote an opinion...
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GAO Calls for ‘Urgent and Sustained Action’ on National Debt
In its new report, “ The Nation’s Fiscal Health,” the Government Accountability Office (GAO) projects the national debt will rise to 251 percent of...
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Maya MacGuineas: Social Security and Medicare are unsustainable. Kansas, Missouri need action
Maya MacGuineas is president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. She recently wrote an opinion piece for the Kansas City Star, an...
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Reconciliation 3.0 Should Be For Deficit Reduction
As lawmakers begin discussions over advancing a third budget reconciliation bill in the 119 th Congress, they should keep focus on the country’s...
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Event Recap: Checking in on the Social Security & Medicare Trust Funds
On June 10, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget hosted an online webinar, Checking in on the Social Security & Medicare Trust Funds. The...
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Appropriations Watch: FY 2026
Note: For the latest fiscal year, click here . Updated 6/11/26: On April 30, the House passed a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill...
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Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Create Commission to Address Social Security Insolvency
Representatives Tom Cole (R-OK) and Thomas Suozzi (D-NY) recently introduced the Bipartisan Social Security Commission Act, legislation that would...
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Social Security and Medicare Trustees Release 2026 Reports
The Social Security and Medicare Trustees released their annual reports today, finding that both programs have significantly worse financial outlooks...
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Maya MacGuineas: No State Spared When Social Security Goes Insolvent
Maya MacGuineas is president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. She recently wrote an opinion piece for the Albany Times Union , an...
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Proposed Tariff Actions Could Raise Revenue by Nearly $1 Trillion
The Trump Administration recently proposed new tariffs on imports from 60 economies using Section 301, which allows the President to impose trade...
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12-Month Rolling Deficit is $1.7 Trillion in May 2026
The federal government borrowed $1.7 trillion over the past year – June 2025 to May 2026 – based on estimates from the Congressional Budget Office...