Update 870 – House OKs Trump OBBB:On to the Senate for Tweak or Overhaul? The House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) yesterday in a 215-214 vote after a week of seemingly fraught negotiations. The bill, which consists of trillions of dollars in tax cuts that are skewed towards the ultra-wealthy and paid …
Update 869 – Treasuries Downgraded:Causes, Costs of Moody’s Rating Cut The United States’ debt rating was downgraded from Aaa to Aa1 by Moody’s Ratings on Friday. The move makes Moody’s the final of the three major credit rating agencies to move the nation’s credit rating down from triple A to one notch below perfect. Moody’s …
Update 868 – Reconciliation Halted:House Budget Stops Massive Tax Bill In a somewhat surprising turn of events today, the House Budget Committee rejected the GOP reconciliation blueprint, with four Republicans joining Democrats in opposition. The Republican defectors cited concerns over the proposal’s overall deficit impact, as well as delays in implementing cost-reduction measures like Medicaid …
Update 867 – House Marathon Mark-ups:Reconciliation Tax, Spending Cuts OK’ed This week, the House Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Agriculture Committees approved their portions of the GOP’s reconciliation bill following grueling, multiday markups. The harmful committee proposals pair $3.8 trillion in net tax cuts over ten years – a fourth of which would …
Update 866 – GENIUS Fails Senate Test;Reconciliation Faces Test next Tuesday Yesterday, after trying to muscle Democrats into moving forward with the first major piece of crypto legislation this Congress, Senate Majority Leader John Thune faced an embarrassing setback when the GENIUS Act failed to get cloture, falling short by a surprisingly wide margin. The …
Update 865 – Another Fed Rate Pause;June Hold Likely Given Tariff Uncertainty The Federal Reserve hit pause, as expected, on interest rates at the conclusion of its May FOMC meeting this afternoon. While many expected Fed Chair Powell to hint at a coming rate cut at the FOMC’s next meeting in June, he instead emphasized …
Update 864 – GDP Contracts by 0.3%;Trump Skins FY26 Domestic Spending Three key pieces of economic data were released this week. The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation ticked down to 2.3 percent in March, nearing the Fed’s two percent target, while a strong 177,000 jobs were added to the economy and unemployment remained unchanged at …
Update 863 – A Tariffying 100 Days:GDP, Markets, Polling All in Retreat Yesterday marked 100 days since Trump began his second term, a period marked by chaotic and unpredictable shifts in economic policy and a prioritization of Wall Street and the wealthy at the expense of everyday people. His administration, with acquiescence by congressional Republicans, …
Update 862 – Tariffs Taking a TollPoll Numbers Drop, No Deals Done Finance and trade ministers from around the world flocked to D.C. this week for the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings. Top of mind were Trump’s tariffs and his attack on the global trading system. As forecasts for global growth and inflation were revised downward, …
Update 861 — DOGELess Barking But Still Biting DOGE’s initial visibility, assault on the civil service, budget cuts, and firings drew unwanted scrutiny and criticism, making it the focal point for the backlash against Trump, Musk, and the GOP’s efforts to reshape the federal government. Since then, the Trump administration’s actions, from immigration to tariffs, …
