New deficit tally: $1 trillion by 2020

Propelled by the GOP tax cuts and increased government spending favored by both parties, the nation’s deficit will top $1 trillion by 2020 and its debt burden within a decade will approach rates not seen since the aftermath of World War II, the Congressional Budget Office said Monday.

The budget deficit next year will rise to $804 billion, or $139 billion higher than the estimates made before the $1.5 trillion tax plan and $1.3 trillion spending bill were signed into law by President Donald Trump in December and March, respectively.

The national debt will rise from nearly $16 trillion at the end of 2018 to almost $29 trillion by 2028, the nonpartisan office said.

The last CBO report issued during the Obama administration said that after a $587 billion deficit in 2016, the shortfall was expected to break the $1 trillion mark in 2023.

H-1B visa requests quickly hit the cap

For the sixth year in a row, employers have deluged the federal government with so many applications for H-1B visas that the cap was reached within five days.

The U.S. work permit for foreign citizens with specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher has been drawn into U.S. immigration politics, with tech companies and other supporters demanding more of them and critics charging that they are used to replace Americans with lower-paid foreign labor.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration announced that the number of H-1B applications had hit 65,000, the annual maximum mandated by Congress. The agency also received enough applications to hit the additional 20,000 cap for workers with a master’s degree or higher. A spokeswoman said Monday that the agency was still counting applications.

— From wire reports