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National budgets

FILE - This April 18, 2019, file photo shows the dome of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. On Friday, April 10, the Treasury Department releases federal budget data for April. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
May 10, 2019 - 2:42 pm

US government records $160.3 billion April surplus

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government recorded a $160.3 billion surplus in April as revenues for the month jumped to an all-time high. But even with a flood of tax receipts, the deficit so far this year is running 37.7% higher than a year ago. The Treasury Department reported Friday that the...
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Protesters with clenched fists sing during a rally organized by the Communist-affiliated PAME labor union outside the Greek parliament, in central Athens, on Wednesday, May 1, 2019. Thousands people gathered in central Athens Wednesday for three separate rallies and marches to parliament organized by unions and left-wing groups. Greece has been left without national rail, island ferry and other transport services for a day as unions hold strikes and rallies to celebrate May Day.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
May 07, 2019 - 1:36 pm

Greek prime minister promises bailout relief before polls

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's left-wing prime minister has promised crisis-weary voters a series of tax-relief measures before upcoming elections, after outperforming budget targets set by bailout creditors. Alexis Tsipras said sales-tax reductions for household electricity use and for catering...
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Acting-Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan prepares for a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on his agency's future funding, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 30, 2019. McAleenan, who is also the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, was directed Monday by President Donald Trump to take additional measures to overhaul the asylum system, which he insists "is in crisis" and plagued by "rampant abuse." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
May 01, 2019 - 5:26 pm

White House wants $4.5 billion in emergency border funding

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday asked Congress for an additional $4.5 billion in emergency funds for the U.S.-Mexico border as it grapples with a surge of Central American migrant families seeking refuge in the U.S. Most of the money requested would be used to increase...
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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Bernie Sanders speaks during a rally at Discovery Green on Wednesday, April 24, 2019, in Houston. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
May 01, 2019 - 4:12 pm

Budget office: Caveats to government-run health system

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional budget experts said Wednesday that moving to a government-run health care system like "Medicare for All" could be complicated and potentially disruptive for Americans. The report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office was a high-level look at the pros and...
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FILE - In this Wednesday, April 10, 2019, file photo, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos testifies before the House Education and Labor Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. A political battle is reheating over a federal program that was designed to cancel student loans for certain public workers but has largely failed to deliver that promise. The program, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, promises to erase federal student loans for public workers who make 10 years of payments while working for approved employers. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
April 29, 2019 - 5:57 am

Lawmakers debate future of loan relief for public workers

In 2007, the U.S. government made a promise to public service workers: Make 10 years of payments on their federal student loans and any remaining debt would be erased. But officials have largely failed to deliver. And that's left lawmakers questioning whether to end the program or try to fix it...
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FILE - In this March 21, 2018, file photo Nancy Pelosi of Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., attend a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony honoring the Office of Strategic Services in Emancipation Hall on Capitol Hill in Washington. Pelosi and McConnell are coming together to see if a deal can be made to stop billions of dollars in government spending cuts. Failure to reach an agreement would usher in cuts to the Pentagon and domestic programs of $125 billion next year _ a 10 percent drop from current levels.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
April 28, 2019 - 1:47 pm

Cuts are coming. Can Pelosi and McConnell make a deal?

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell, Washington's odd couple, have a limited set of mutual legislative interests in a capital beset by dysfunction and awash in presidential politics. But automatic spending cuts, the legacy of a budget breakdown...
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April 23, 2019 - 8:14 am

Greek 2018 primary budget surplus exceeds forecasts, at 4.4%

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's budget performance in 2018 was better than expected following some revenue-boosting measures by the government. According to the country's statistical agency, Greece recorded a primary budget surplus, which excludes the cost of servicing the country's vast public debt...
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Attorney General William Barr appears before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee to make his Justice Department budget request, Wednesday, April 10, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
April 10, 2019 - 4:29 pm

The Latest: Barr says he thinks Trump campaign was spied on

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Attorney General William Barr's testimony to Congress and the Russia probe (all times local): 4:20 p.m. Attorney General William Barr says he thinks "spying did occur" on Donald Trump's presidential campaign, suggesting the origins of the Russia investigation may...
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FILE- In this March 30, 2019, file photo the Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building is visible as cherry blossom trees bloom on the West Lawn in Washington. On Wednesday, April 10, the Treasury Department releases federal budget data for March. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
April 10, 2019 - 2:15 pm

US budget deficit running 15% higher than a year ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government reported a $146.9 billion deficit in March, causing annual debt to rise 15% for the first half of the budget year compared to the same period in 2018. The Treasury Department said Wednesday in its monthly report that the fiscal year deficit has so far...
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President Donald Trump talks with reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 28, 2019, for the short trip to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. Trump is traveling to Michigan to speak at a rally before spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
March 29, 2019 - 6:00 am

Trump says Special Olympics funding to be restored, not cut

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he is backing off his budget request to eliminate funding for the Special Olympics, reversing course on a proposal that was unlikely to be approved by Congress after days of bipartisan criticism. Speaking to reporters Thursday as he left the White House...
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