US budget deficit rises to $2.81 trillion, Treasury Dept. says
SILVER SPRING, Md. — The U.S. budget deficit climbed to $2.81 trillion in the first 10 months of the budget year, exceeding any on record, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.
The nation’s budgetary shortfall is expected to eventually reach levels for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30 more than double the largest annual deficit on record.
The federal government rang up a $63 billion deficit in July, the department reported. That’s a relatively modest amount compared to red ink that spilled in the spring months when the government tried to revive an economy that all but ground to a halt due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Last month’s deficit was sharply lower than June’s $864 billion, in part because the government collected a record amount of tax revenue in July — $563 billion — after extending the filing deadline to July 15. That extension allowed Americans more time to sort through the economic havoc wrought by the pandemic.
So far this budget year, government receipts total $2.82 trillion, off just 1% from the same period last year, Treasury officials said.
Outlays so far this budget year total $5.63 trillion, a 50% increase over the $3.73 trillion at this point in 2019, with the vast majority of the extra spending related to fortifying the country’s economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Congress has passed rescue packages totaling nearly $3 trillion this year, but Democrats and Republicans remain far apart on another relief bill, just as an expanded unemployment benefit of $600 per week expired July 31.
Derailment in Scotland: Three people were killed and six others injured Wednesday when a passenger train derailed in northeast Scotland after heavy rain and flooding hit the area.
The train driver was believed to be among the dead, British Transport Police said. The Rail, Maritime and Transport union said that the train conductor was also believed killed. Six people were hospitalized, but their injuries are not considered serious.
Torrential rain had caused flooding and travel disruptions in Scotland, and on Wednesday morning Network Rail Scotland tweeted warnings of a landslip affecting services in the area.
FBI investigation: The FBI is investigating the shooting of a military helicopter during a training mission this week in northern Virginia, injuring one crew member who was aboard, officials said Wednesday.
The Air Force helicopter was flying over Middleburg on Monday when it was shot from the ground nearby, according to authorities. The helicopter made an emergency landing at the Manassas Regional Airport, and federal agents were called to the scene to investigate, the FBI said in a statement.
The crew members aboard the UH-1N Huey helicopter, assigned to the 1st Helicopter Squadron at Joint Base Andrews, were on a routine training mission when the helicopter was struck by a bullet, the Air Force said in a statement. The helicopter was about 10 miles northwest of the airport, near Middleburg, and was flying about 1,000 feet above the ground when it was hit, according to officials.
Agents from the FBI’s field office in Washington and from the bureau’s evidence response team were called to the airport after the shooting Monday.
Reported cyberattack: Israel said Wednesday it foiled a cyberattack targeting its defense industry by a shadowy group that the U.S. has linked to North Korea.
The Israeli Defense Ministry said hackers with the Lazarus Group built fake profiles on the LinkedIn social network and posed as the CEOs and senior officials of international companies. They then offered job opportunities to employees at major Israeli defense firms in an attempt to gain access to their computers and networks to steal sensitive information.
The ministry said there was no “harm or disruption” to the targeted networks.
The ministry also said the Lazarus Group is “backed by a foreign country,” without elaborating.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against the Lazarus Group in September, saying it was controlled by North Korea. It said the Lazarus Group was behind the devastating WannaCry ransomware, which froze 300,000 computers across 150 countries in 2017, and the destructive cyberattack against Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014.
Fake COVID-19 cure: Colombian officials say they have arrested two Florida men wanted in the United States on charges they illegally sold a bleachlike chemical as a miracle cure for the new coronavirus and other diseases.
The Colombian prosecutor’s office said Tuesday that Mark and Joseph Grennon were arrested in the beach town of Santa Marta, and were shipping their “Miracle Mineral Solution” — chlorine dioxide
— from there to clients in the United States, Colombia and Africa.
It said seven Americans had died from using the substance.
Mark Grenon is the archbishop of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, based in Bradenton, Florida, which is centered on use of the toxic chemical as a supposed sacrament it claims can cure a vast variety of illnesses ranging from cancer to autism to malaria and COVID-19.
A Miami federal judge in April ordered the self-styled church to stop selling the substance, but it was ignored.
A federal criminal complaint filed in July charged Mark Grenon, 62, and his sons, Jonathan, 34, Jordan, 26, and Joseph, 32, with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to violate the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and criminal contempt.
They face a maximum of between 14 and more than 17 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, the solution sold by the Grenons becomes a bleach when ingested that is typically used for such things as treating textiles, industrial water, pulp and paper.
Tribal lawsuit: A California tribe whose ancestral lands span across the U.S.Mexico border is suing the Trump administration to block construction of a section of border wall that the Kumeyaay people say is desecrating sacred burial sites.
The La Posta Band of Diegueno Mission Indians filed the lawsuit this week in federal court in San Diego asking for an injunction to temporarily halt the installation of a metal wall until the tribe can protect its religious and cultural heritage. La Posta is one of 12 bands of the Kumeyaay people.
The tribe wants its members to be able to monitor work and interrupt it to recover human remains and cultural items.
The tribe says its members were not consulted adequately by border officials.