CONGRESS/DEFICIT/ECONOMY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The self-described ‘king of debt’ is about to get religion. In the next several months, the Trump administration faces several big spending and budget showdowns with Congress. And after mostly brushing off deficit concerns while pushing through a costly tax-cut plan, the White House now plans to reposition itself as an unlikely enforcer of fiscal responsibility led by its new top budget official, a veteran of the conservative group Heritage Action. The series of budget fights will come into focus on Saturday [3-2-19], when the U.S. government hits its debt limit, already at a record of roughly $22 trillion. That won’t cause an immediate crisis, thanks to Treasury’s ability to keep paying the bills for a limited amount of time using a power known as ‘extraordinary measures.’ Still, Saturday marks the beginning of a series of budget challenges for the Trump White House. The next marker comes on March 11, when the White House is scheduled to release the president’s broad budget priorities, which will feature a call for deep spending cuts — and be dead on arrival in the Democratic-led House.”
–Andrew Restuccia and Nancy Cook, “Deficit-swelling Trump White House plans to use deficit against Democrats,” Politico, March 1, 2019 7:07 pm