Biden signs $1.2 trillion spending package

U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris meet with (L-R) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), on February 27, 2024 at the White House in Washington, DC. Roberto Schmidt | Getty Images President Joe Biden on … Read more

No slowdown in spending among the wealthy on this Bahamian island

The Bahamas has more than 700 islands and cays; remote workers and students can live on 16 of them, including Eleuthera (shown here). Sylvain Sonnet | The Image Bank | Getty Images Word that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce had been seen on the marina of this tiny speck (5 square miles) of an island … Read more

Congress’ Spending Bill Could Ban Funds to Top Gaza Aid Agency

The fate of the U.N. agency dedicated to Palestinian refugees hangs in the balance as U.S. lawmakers prepare to vote on a batch of spending bills that, if passed, would suspend direct funding to the agency for at least a year. The U.N. agency, known by its shorthand UNRWA, was first established in 1949 to … Read more

U.S. consumer spending data looms

A family walks past a store advertising a Black Friday sale near Pentagon City Mall in Arlington, Virginia, on November 22, 2023. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) Andrew Caballero-reynolds | Afp | Getty Images This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC … Read more

Poland’s president calls on NATO allies to raise spending on defense to 3% of GDP

WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s president on Monday called on other members of the NATO alliance to raise their spending on defense to 3% of their gross domestic product as Russia puts its economy on a war footing and pushes forward with its invasion of Ukraine. President Andrzej Duda made his call in remarks directed at … Read more

Trump floats ‘cutting’ retirement spending, drawing quick pushback from Biden

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump opened the door Monday to “cutting” spending under Social Security and Medicare, drawing swift pushback from President Joe Biden and elevating a key policy battle in the 2024 election. Phoning into CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Trump was pressed on how he plans to resolve the long-term solvency problems of Social … Read more

President Biden signs $460 billion spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., March 7, 2024.  Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a $460 billion spending bill into law, averting a partial government shutdown that would … Read more

China ups military spending by 7.2%, vows to deter Taiwan ‘separatist activities’

Missiles on the background of the Chinese flag Anton Petrus | Moment | Getty Images China is set to increase its defense spending by 7.2% to 1.67 trillion yuan in 2024, according to a budget report released by the Ministry of Finance, as part of the country’s annual parliamentary meetings in Beijing. This year’s military … Read more

Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius says 2% defense spending just the start

Germany’s defense minister said on Saturday that his country’s commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defense was just the starting point and that more would likely be needed. Earlier in the day, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted that the 2% spending target would be met “in the 2020s, in the 2030s and beyond.” However, … Read more

Germany’s Scholz commits to spending 2% on defense over next 10 years

German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz arrives for the weekly federal government cabinet meeting on Oct. 11, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. Michele Tantussi | Getty Images News | Getty Images MUNICH, Germany — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday reaffirmed Berlin’s commitment to spend 2% of the national gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, this year and … Read more