#federal-spending

#federal-spending

When it comes to understanding where your tax dollars actually go, the answer might surprise you. According to data from USASpending.gov, total federal obligations per capita can vary dramatically across states, with some receiving more than $24,000 per resident while others receive less than half that amount. These numbers are important because they help shape local economies, influence the cost of living, and quietly determine how far the dollar can stretch across the country.

The massive spending bill pushed by Trump and passed by Congress this summer increased immigration enforcement by $170 billion, part of a broader push to reach the administration's goal of deporting 1 million immigrants each year. The new round of immigration spending includes $75 billion over four years for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, on top of the $10 billion the agency had already been allocated for 2025.

In just the past 11 months, his administration has canceled billions of dollars in foreign aid, frozen billions of dollars in research grants, imposed new conditions on other grants and contracts, slashed agency staffs, and even sought to claw back certain prior grant payments. At the same time, it has employed military resources to assist immigration enforcement, offered civil-service buyouts without statutory authority, and reportedly used a private donation to help pay military salaries during this fall's government shutdown.

The monkey jailbreak went viral: it was the day after the election, and the divided nation was eager for distraction. How did the macaques make it out? The escape quickly became politicized. In a new investigation, the New Yorker staff writer Ava Kofman reports from the small town of Yemassee, South Carolina, about the macaque mass exodus-which fuelled an unlikely alliance between animal-rights proponents and the MAGA movement.

The Supreme Court has granted Donald Trump a pathway to revoke federally authorized spending, violating the constitutional separation of powers, enabling widespread firings at the Department of Education.

The economic effects of Trump's policy bill aim to make big tax cuts permanent while funding them through cuts to Medicaid and substantial borrowing, increasing the deficit dramatically.

Work requirements for Medicaid aim to cut costs in the federal budget bill by incentivizing able-bodied adults to work for access to the program.

Our objective is to critically evaluate which engagements deliver genuine value and demonstrable returns to the American taxpayer, and therefore merit external support.