Trump budget pick: Changes are needed

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid need significant changes to be preserved for future generations, President Donald Trump's pick to head the White House budget office told Congress Tuesday. Rep. Mick Mulvaney's comments at his confirmation hearing stand in sharp contrast to Trump's campaign pledges not to cut the programs.

The Latest: Senator predicts smooth path for VA nominee

The chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is predicting a smooth path to confirmation for David Shulkin, President Donald Trump's choice to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Sen. Johnny Isakson met with Shulkin on Tuesday.

Senate confirms Trump’s nominee for US ambassador to the UN

The Senate... . Health and Human Services Secretary-designate, Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., right, accompanied by Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., pauses while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, at his confirmation hearing... .

Budget Director Nominee: Obama Inauguration Crowds Were Bigger Than Trump’s

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., tried to test whether President Trump's nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget believed in facts or "alternative facts" in a confirmation hearing on Tuesday. With the incoming Trump administration repeating falsehoods about the size of crowds at the president's inauguration, Merkley asked Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., to look at two side-by-side photos - taken at roughly the same time during former President Obama's inauguration in 2009 and Trump's just last week - to gauge which, in fact, was bigger.

New Study: Trump to Inherits $559B Deficit, Stable Economy

Congressional analysts Tuesday projected that President Donald Trump has inherited a stable economy and a government that is on track to run a $559 billion budget deficit for the ongoing budget year. The new estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office say the economy will hold relatively steady, with economic growth rising slightly to 2.3 percent this year and unemployment averaging less than 5 percent for the duration of Trump's term.

Schumer warns GOP against jamming Trump nominees through Senate

Senate Democrats strongly complained Wednesday that Republicans were trying to "jam" President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet picks through the chamber, and warned they would not rush to confirm the nominees on a timetable being advocated by Republicans. "These past two weeks we have seen repeated efforts from the Trump transition, aided and abetted by Senate Republicans, to jam through nominees that hides their views from the American people," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, after a meeting with his caucus during which they strategized over a path forward on the nominees.

Budget pick Mulvaney acknowledges payroll tax lapse

Rep. Mick Mulvaney, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to run the White House budget office, failed to pay more than $15,000 in payroll taxes for a household worker more than a decade ago, prompting the Senate's top Democrat to issue a statement saying the lapse should disqualify his nomination.

Deficits and debt seem not atop GOP priorities these days

In this Jan. 10, 2017, photo, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., accompanied by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. For decades, congressional Republicans have pushed to slash the budget and reduce the size of the federal government, especially during the eight years Democratic President Barack Obama was in office.

Report: Dems target eight Trump nominees in bid to delay process, get picks to disclose more info

Senate Democrats reportedly plan to attack eight of Republican President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet picks and stretch their confirmation process from days to perhaps months, despite having essentially no chance of blocking their nominations. The Democratic senators are vowing to make good on their vow unless the nominees start disclosing personal financial information, according to The Washington Post .

Democrats to target Trump nominees

WASHINGTON Democratic senators plan to aggressively target eight of Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees in the coming weeks and are pushing to stretch their confirmation votes into March an unprecedented break with Senate tradition. Such delays would upend Republican hopes of quickly holding hearings and confirming most of Trump's top picks on Inauguration Day.

On victory lap, few signs emerge Trump will focus on unifed nation

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday wrapped up his postelection victory tour, showing few signs of turning the page from his blustery campaign to focus on uniting a divided nation a month before his inauguration. At each stop, the Republican has gloatingly recapped his election night triumph, reignited some old political feuds while starting some new ones, and done little to quiet the hate-filled chants of "Lock her up!" directed at Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

The Latest: Trump holds last victory rally but promises more

President-elect Donald Trump is holding the final rally on his postelection victory tour in a football stadium in Mobile, Alabama, where he held the biggest rally of his campaign. Trump said he's been told that once he's president he should stop holding such rallies.

Trump’s pick for budget office is hard-liner on spending

President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he would nominate Representative Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina to be his budget director. Mulvaney is a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, the group that led the takedown of John Boehner as speaker In Mulvaney, Trump has chosen for the Office of Management and Budget a spending hard-liner to join an economic team that could be ideologically in conflict, setting up possible collisions during major policymaking next year.

On victory lap, few signs Trump focusing on unified nation

President-elect Donald Trump is greeted by the Azalea Trail Maids after arriving at the airport for a rally at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, in Mobile, Ala. President-elect Donald Trump is greeted by the Azalea Trail Maids after arriving at the airport for a rally at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, in Mobile, Ala.

Trump wants SC Rep. Mick Mulvaney to be his budget director

As he prepared for the final stop on his postelection "thank you" tour, President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday announced his pick for White House budget director, a tough-on-spending conservative congressman who advocates balancing the federal books. South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney, elected in the 2010 tea party wave and a founder of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, is a "very high-energy leader with deep convictions for how to responsibly manage our nation's finances and save our country from drowning in red ink," Trump said in a statement.