Economy on CrossGov.com

GAO Report on Textile Circular Economy, Policy Options for the US

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

GAO looked at policy options to support a textile circular economy, focusing on how the U.S. can create new jobs and reduce environmental harm by keeping textiles in use longer through reuse, repair, and recycling. The main finding was that current efforts lack funding and infrastructure, prompting consideration of policies such as requiring industry responsibility for waste management, removing sales tax on secondhand apparel, and using tax credits to encourage involvement.

Treasury Proposes Barring Large Investors From Buying Single-Family Homes Starting January 7, 2027

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Treasury Department proposed rules on October 22, 2026, to bar large institutional investors from buying single-family homes from January 7, 2027. The proposal is Treasury’s first attempt to say how the ban will work in practice, and most of it is about the exceptions.

The ban itself is already law. Congress wrote it into Section 1001 of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, H.R. 6644, a broad housing bill that cleared the Senate 85 to 5 on June 22. President Trump said he wouldn’t sign it, arguing that Congress should pass the SAVE America Act first, and he didn’t. The bill became law without his signature on July 11. The ban starts 180 days later. Treasury says the rule also codifies key parts of Executive Order 14376, “Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers,” which the President signed on January 20.

USDA Announces $8 Billion in Harvest Fuel Relief and $573 Million for Fertilizer Plants Weeks Before the Midterms

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

USDA announced $8 billion in one-time Harvest Fuel Relief payments to farmers on October 19 and about $573 million for eight fertilizer plants on October 22, both drawn on the Commodity Credit Corporation. Neither program comes from a new appropriation. Both use USDA’s standing authority to borrow from the Treasury through the CCC, the same route the department took for the $12 billion Farmer Bridge Assistance payments earlier this year.

CBO Says Rates 1.5 Points Higher Would Add $6 Trillion to Deficits by 2036, With the 10-Year Yield Already at 5.2%

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Congressional Budget Office published two higher-interest-rate scenarios on October 8, and the bond market is already more than halfway to the worse one. CBO’s February baseline assumed the 10-year Treasury yield would average 4.3% from 2026 to 2036. The yield closed at 5.2% on October 1.

A scenario that looked like a stress test in February now sits close to where the market trades.

We covered the headline numbers when they came out, in our post on interest costs topping defense and Medicare. This post looks at how the scenarios are built, what the market has already priced, and what Treasury’s final numbers for fiscal 2026 add.

Social Security Sets a 3.6% COLA for 2027, the Largest Since 2023, as CBO Puts the Retirement Fund Out of Money in 2032

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Social Security Administration announced on October 14 that benefits will rise 3.6% in 2027, the largest cost-of-living adjustment since 2023. The increase applies to about 72 million Social Security beneficiaries from January and to about 7.3 million people on Supplemental Security Income from December 31. Counting people who get both, SSA puts the total at about 76 million Americans.

For the average retired worker, the monthly check goes from $2,095 to $2,170, a rise of $75. An aged couple both receiving benefits goes from $3,238 to $3,355. The SSI federal payment standard rises from $994 to $1,029 a month for an individual and from $1,491 to $1,544 for a couple.

Fed's Williams, Collins and Waller Signal One More Rate Hike, Not a Series, as Waller Blames Part of High Yields on US Debt

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Four Federal Reserve officials spoke on October 13, and their message was more measured than the hawkish calls of the previous week. New York Fed President John Williams, the Fed’s vice chair for monetary policy, said one more increase “may be appropriate in 2026,” but he saw no need for increases in 2027 and expects inflation near 2% next year as the effects of tariffs and energy prices fade. The economy is “not overheating,” he said.

IMF Warns Sovereign Bond Yields Could Rise in a 'Disorderly Fashion' as It Puts US Growth at 2.3% and Oil at $96

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The International Monetary Fund published its World Economic Outlook and Global Financial Stability Report on October 13 at its annual meetings in Bangkok. It forecast US growth of 2.3% in both 2026 and 2027, and global growth of 3.1% this year, a little higher than in July. Global inflation is forecast at 4.7% in 2026, easing to 4.1% next year.

The stability report carries the sharper warning. It says inflation, government debt and heavy borrowing by AI companies are straining sovereign bond markets, and that “sovereign bond yields could rise in a disorderly fashion.” The “impact could be severe given the foundational importance of sovereign bond markets,” it says. An IMF deputy director, Athanasios Vamvakidis, said: “The market is concerned about absorption potential of the huge issuance.”

Trade Court Certifies a Class for IEEPA Tariff Refunds, Putting About $30 Billion Owed to Small Importers in Play as DOJ Appeals

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Court of International Trade has certified a class of importers who paid the emergency tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act between February 1, 2025, and February 19, 2026, the day before the Supreme Court struck them down. Importers who have filed their own suits are excluded. The court held a closed conference with the parties on October 13, and proposed schedules are due on October 22.

Bessent Skips the IMF Meetings in Bangkok During the US G20 Presidency as Warren Presses Him on 5% Treasury Yields

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent won’t attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Bangkok, which run from October 12 to 18, Reuters reported. Deputy Secretary Francis Brooke and Under Secretary for International Affairs Erin Browne lead the US delegation. A US official cited “domestic engagements.”

The absence stands out because the US holds the G20 presidency this year. Bessent was expected to chair the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Bangkok on Thursday. He also skipped the 2025 G20 meetings in South Africa. Treasury says it will push for “greater transparency and more effective approaches to sovereign debt” and wants the IMF and World Bank to stick to their core mandates.

Fed's Hammack Says Rates Need to Be Higher as Hawks Line Up Before September CPI and the October 27 to 28 Meeting

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack said on October 12 that “interest rates need to be higher.” Inflation is “too high with the Fed having missed its 2% target for five and a half years,” she said, and “demand-side pressures from AI are not self-correcting.” She said she prefers smaller rate changes made relatively quickly, and put trend inflation in the “mid-to-high 2% range.” “Biggest risk is inflationary mindset,” she said.

White House Suspends H-1B and Green Card Processing for Microsoft, Tata, Infosys and Five Other Firms

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The administration said on October 8 it will stop processing new and pending H-1B visa petitions and PERM labor certifications, the first step toward an employment-based green card, for eight companies: Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Infosys, HCL and Capgemini.

Vice President Vance called Microsoft the “biggest abuser.” Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said: “We are cutting off the head of the snake.”

FT Poll Puts Trump's Economy Approval at a Record Low of About 25% Three Weeks Before the Midterms

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

About a quarter of US registered voters approve of President Trump’s handling of jobs and the economy, the lowest share since the Financial Times began its monthly poll with Focaldata in May. Only about a fifth approve of how he’s handling inflation. The survey was taken online from October 2 to 4 among 2,275 registered voters, with a margin of error of 2.5 points.

His overall approval stands at 34%. September’s reading of 33% was the low point of the series, so the topline has stopped falling. The economic numbers haven’t.

Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs on 60 Economies Face a Court of International Trade Test After the IEEPA Ruling

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On September 30 a three-judge panel of the Court of International Trade in New York heard the first major challenge to the tariffs that replaced the emergency tariffs struck down in February. The case, brought by importers including a spice company, Burlap & Barrel, and a watchmaker, Collective Horology, argues that the US Trade Representative stretched Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 beyond what Congress allowed.

The judges pressed the government on why USTR hadn’t considered the different development levels of the 60 economies covered. On October 2 the court ordered both sides to file more briefs answering its questions.

The $100,000 H-1B Fee Is Blocked by Two Courts as Legal Immigration Shrinks: Refugee Cap 17,500, Travel Ban on 39 Countries

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

As of early October 2026, employers filing new H-1B visa petitions don’t have to pay the $100,000 fee the President imposed in September 2025. Two federal judges have blocked it.

On June 8, 2026, Judge Leo Sorokin in Massachusetts vacated the fee in a case brought by 20 states, ruling that it is effectively a tax only Congress can levy, and arbitrary. The First Circuit refused to lift his ruling in July. Around September 30, Judge Haywood Gilliam in California blocked USCIS and the State Department from enforcing it in a separate suit by unions, employers and nonprofits. A Washington district court had upheld the fee in December 2025 in a case brought by the US Chamber of Commerce, which is appealing. The administration has extended the fee to September 2027 and in August proposed making it permanent, at about $103,000.

US Economy in 2026: The Warsh Fed Raises Rates to 4% as Inflation Hits 3.4% and Job Growth Stalls at 29,000

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On September 16, 2026, the Federal Reserve raised its policy rate by a quarter point, to 3.75–4.00%. It was the first increase since July 2023, and the vote was 12 to 0. The Fed’s statement said inflation remained elevated. Its median projection pointed to one more hike before the end of the year.

Two weeks later, the September jobs report showed employers added just 29,000 jobs. July was revised to a loss of 10,000. Unemployment was 4.2%.

Medicare's First Negotiated Part B Drug Prices Are Due November 30 as the MFN Pricing Model Shrinks From $11.9 Billion to $440 Million in Savings

Sun, 04 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

By November 30 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must publish the negotiated prices for the third group of drugs under the Medicare drug price negotiation program. For the first time the list includes drugs given in doctors’ offices, covered by Medicare Part B: Botox, Entyvio, Orencia, Xolair and Cimzia among them. The 15 drugs cost Medicare $27 billion over twelve months to October 2025. The new prices take effect in 2028.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac IPO Stalls as Treasury's $234 Billion Claim Grows and Shares Fall More Than Half

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two companies that guarantee about half of US mortgages, remain in government conservatorship 18 years after the 2008 crisis. A public offering the administration floated in 2025, at a combined valuation of $500 billion or more, hasn’t happened. No banks have been mandated and no timetable announced.

The shares, which trade over the counter, fell more than 23% and 25% in September. They’re down more than half this year.

FDA Becomes a Tool of Industrial Policy: Priority Vouchers, PreCheck and the 100% Pharma Tariff That Most Big Drugmakers Avoid

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On April 1, 2026, the FDA approved Eli Lilly’s Foundayo, an obesity pill, 50 days after the company filed. Standard reviews take about ten months. The speed came from a Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher, a program launched in June 2025 that promises reviews in one to two months for drugs the agency judges to serve national priorities. Two of the first nine vouchers went to products made in the US.

CBO Projects US Debt at 120% of GDP by 2036 and 175% by 2056 as Interest Costs Overtake Defense

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Between October 2025 and May 2026, the federal government spent $722.7 billion on net interest and $630.9 billion on national defense, according to Treasury’s monthly statements. Interest beat defense by $92 billion in eight months. In fiscal 2025 the two were close: $970 billion on interest, $917 billion on defense.

That crossover is the most concrete sign of what the Congressional Budget Office’s projections have been saying for years. The debt is now large enough that paying for it competes with everything else the government does.