#federal-budget

#federal-budget

The contents of Prime Minister Mark Carney's first federal budget, released on 4 November, came as a relief to many researchers in Canada - because a large cut to the country's three main research-funding councils failed to materialize. The nation has also poured further investment into attracting international scientists from abroad. With the economic fallout from US President Donald Trump's tariffs and the planned increases in expenditure on housing, infrastructure and national defence, Canada's government departments had been asked to plan for 15% cuts in the lead-up to the 2025 budget. The scientific community feared that had those cuts been applied to the funding councils, they would have erased the large, multi-year increase promised in the 2024 budget. Much of this increase had been earmarked for long-overdue salary boosts for PhD students and postdoctoral fellows.

The shelves at Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre's food bank haven't been as stocked up as they used to be, but the need is greater than it's ever been, it says. And now the centre at Dundas Street and Parliament Street is one of the spots that fears losing funding after this year's federal budget left key reconciliation programs without guaranteed money beyond spring 2026.

My first take is that it's less transformational, it's more tinkering, he said. The federal budget, tabled Tuesday, details billions in proposed cuts and investments meant to spur growth and productivity amidst trade uncertainty and a slowing economy. It calls for about $141 billion in new spending offset by $51.2 billion in cuts, mostly to the public service and shows a deficit of roughly $78 billion for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

"Generational" is the Carney government's adjective of choice at this moment of consequence. The word appeared 11 times in the prepared text of Francois Philippe-Champagne's budget speech and another 45 times in the 493-page budget document. It is a word apparently meant to speak to both the gravity of the country's situation and the bigness of this government response. "This is not a time for small plans," Champagne writes in the budget's foreword.

The Office of Management and Budget is a strange institution. People who've worked there for decades struggle to describe it in terms a normal person would understand. It is part of the White House but gets treated like a Cabinet agency. O.M.B.'s workforce of about five hundred people is minuscule compared with most agencies, and yet its remit covers the entire government. The agency doesn't make policy or write regulations, but, crucially, it controls the flow of money from Congress to federal agencies.

We want to see initiatives that bring the private sector back into the economy and investing in the economy. We live in a world where capital is becoming increasingly sparse; there's a lot of competition for capital out there,

We are starting from scratch,

The House Committee on Appropriations will markup the fiscal year 2026 spending plan for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, with discretionary funds totaling $67.8 billion.

"Science is what made this nation great," said Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) on X. "Every breakthrough, and our economic growth has come from science and technology breakthroughs. Those aren't going to happen much in this Trump administration. It's a tragedy."

Amtrak's request for $850 million for the Northeast Corridor grants is a significant decrease compared to the previous year, highlighting budget constraints and the urgent need for infrastructure improvements.

The unfathomable federal budget process allows legislators to operate in wild, unexpected ways, resulting in severe consequences for the most vulnerable populations through cuts to essential services.

The committee's rare late-night meeting, scheduled for 1 a.m., comes as Republican leadership races to pass what Mr. Trump refers to as the 'big, beautiful bill' before their self-imposed Memorial Day deadline.

The primary reason for Moody's downgrade is the rapid rise in federal government debt and potentially higher yields to refinance it.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee's 2025 budget reconciliation bill allocates $500 million for IT modernization and AI efforts, crucial as states grapple with regulations.

On its website, the committee boldly asserts its power, quoting from the constitution that No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of Appropriations made by law.

The National Endowment for the Arts has notified arts organizations that their 2025 grant awards are being terminated, sparking a wave of urgent appeals for donations.

President Trump’s budget proposal represents a significant contraction in government spending, aiming to cut $163 billion and impacting various crucial programs, particularly for the poor.

Since day one, the Trump Administration has targeted waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal spending through executive action, DOGE review, and other efforts by departments and agencies.