Last week I explained that the federal government is operating on a temporary spending bill called a continuing resolution instead of a real budget for fiscal 2013. That continuing resolution expires on March 27. If lawmakers don't pass new legislation the federal government will shut down on March 28. Here's what's happening.

The legislation introduced yesterday would extend the current spending bill through the end of the fiscal year – in other words, Congress is proposing to go through this entire fiscal year without passing an actual budget. However, this new legislation did include an actual budget for just two areas of government – Defense and Military Construction-Veterans Affair.

I recently read an article that compared the gridlock in Washington, D.C. to living next to a railroad track with trains constantly going by – eventually you don’t even notice it. But with the fiscal cliff looming, concerns about the inability of Congress to get anything done are mounting.So it ...

During Monday’s presidential debate both candidates discussed their plans for future Pentagon spending. Gov. Romney claimed that President Obama would cut $1 trillion from the Pentagon’s budget, while President Obama questioned how Gov. Romney would fund $2 trillion in new Pentagon spending.So what’s going on here? Let’s look at some ...

When asked if they support cutting certain types of federal spending, many Americans say they'd like to see the U.S. reduce the amount of aid we give to foreign countries. So it's worth knowing: How much does our federal government currently spend on foreign aid?

This fall we're launching the incredible stories of Americans across the country in a project called Faces of the Budget. National Priorities Project has been gathering the stories of every-day people and how they've been affected by the spending and tax policies of the federal budget. Since all of us ...

Last week, on the heels of the Republican convention, my colleague Chris Hellman wrote here about the Republican Party platform and its implications for the federal budget. With the Democratic convention in Charlotte behind us, let's check out the Democratic platform approved by the party last week.

This election season, National Priorities Project is launching a suite of materials to arm voters with crucial information about what's at stake in November. And part of being informed is knowing what questions to ask candidates. Here are the top six things to ask your congressional candidates about where they ...

President Obama was in Columbus, OH this week, talking about funding for education. Just by coincidence, so was I.NPP, along with Peace Action, sponsored the first of our “Move the Money” training sessions where we’re gathering local activists to help them integrate information about the federal budget into the work ...

If there was ever any doubt that the U.S. federal budget would claim center-stage in the 2012 presidential race, it vanished with Mitt Romney's selection of House Budget Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI) as the GOP Vice Presidential nominee. Although Mitt Romney has emphasized he will run on a Romney budget, ...