Government & Policy
Legislation, executive orders, regulatory changes, and government actions that directly impact personal finances, taxes, benefits, or the economy.
Latest in Government & Policy
A new food-stamp rule makes most households prove their utility bills or lose about $100 a month in benefits
A change buried in this year’s federal budget law is quietly cutting food-stamp benefits for households that cannot document what they pay to keep the...
A new SNAP rule cuts monthly food benefits for about 600,000 households
A change in how the food-stamp program counts utility costs is quietly shrinking monthly benefits for an estimated 600,000 households, an average loss of about...
Former SAVE borrowers must pick a new repayment plan by about September 29 or be moved into a costlier standard plan
Millions of federal student loan borrowers who were parked in the Saving on a Valuable Education plan are now on a clock, and the earliest...
Miss the new 80-hour-a-month food-stamp work rule for three months by September 30 and benefits can be cut off
A federal work rule tied to food stamps is forcing a hard choice on hundreds of thousands of lower-income adults, including many in their late...
A new federal law gives filers 65 and older an extra $6,000 deduction, but it phases out above $75,000 in income
A tax break written into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act hands most Americans 65 and older an extra $6,000 deduction, a meaningful cut for...
Several states freeze seniors’ property taxes, and New Jersey pays up to $6,500
New Jersey reimburses eligible senior homeowners for the amount their property taxes have risen above a set base year, a benefit worth up to about...
Homeowners 65 and older can defer property taxes until the home is sold
Homeowners in their mid-60s and older can, in many states, stop paying their annual property-tax bill and let the state cover it instead, repaying the...
A bill in Congress would repeal the federal income tax on Social Security benefits, but it has not cleared committee
The idea of ending federal income tax on Social Security benefits has a real bill behind it, and that bill is going nowhere fast. Legislation...
South Carolina joins the states banning soda and candy purchases with food stamps starting August 31
South Carolina is about to change what its food-stamp recipients can put in the cart. Beginning August 31, 2026, candy, soft drinks, energy drinks and...
VA disability pay starts at $180.42 a month for a 10% rating in 2026
A veteran with a service-connected condition rated at 10 percent disabling receives $180.42 a month from the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2026, the entry...
A bill would let about 50,000 combat-injured veterans draw both military retirement and disability pay, roughly $1,200 more a month
A long-stalled bill in Congress would end a rule that forces many combat-injured veterans to give up part of their military retirement pay for every...
Trump’s proposed $2,000 tariff-dividend checks lost their legal footing after the tariff authority behind them expired in July
President Trump’s pitch to mail nearly every American a $2,000 “tariff dividend” has run into a problem that no rally speech can fix: the legal...
A federal program helps pay part of a low-income household’s summer cooling bill
Help with a summer electric bill is one of the least-known corners of the federal safety net, even though the program that provides it reaches...
Anyone on SNAP or Medicaid can cut $9.25 a month off a phone or internet bill through federal Lifeline
A standing federal discount can shave up to $9.25 a month off a phone or internet bill, yet many of the households that qualify never...
A bipartisan bill would let SSI recipients keep $10,000 in savings, up from a $2,000 cap frozen since 1989
A bipartisan bill in Congress would let recipients of Supplemental Security Income hold up to $10,000 in savings without losing their benefits, a fivefold increase...
Seniors 60 and older can deduct medical costs over $35 to boost food-stamp benefits
Older Americans on food assistance often leave money on the table because they never report their medical bills. Federal SNAP rules let a household with...
Wartime veterans and surviving spouses may qualify for an Aid and Attendance pension up to about $2,900 a month
A wartime veteran or a surviving spouse who needs help with the daily tasks of living, bathing, dressing, or managing medications, may qualify for a...
Seventeen drugmakers agreed to cut Medicaid and cash drug prices toward the lowest any wealthy nation pays
The Trump administration has now signed most-favored-nation pricing agreements with seventeen drug manufacturers, deals built to pull the prices those companies charge in the United...
New federal rules just stripped the food-stamp work exemption from veterans and caregivers
A federal law now taking effect has quietly erased the food-stamp protections that shielded two groups from work rules: military veterans and parents caring for...
Trump’s proposed $2,000 tariff-dividend checks would cost about $450 billion, roughly double what his tariffs raise this year
President Trump’s pitch to mail nearly every American a $2,000 “tariff dividend” check carries a price tag that dwarfs the revenue meant to pay for...