On The Money: Deficit rises to record $2.7 trillion amid pandemic: CBO | Democrats sidestep budget deal by seeking $250B in emergency spending | House panel advances spending bill with funding boost to IRS

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THE BIG DEAL—Deficit rises to record $2.7 trillion amid pandemic: CBO: The federal deficit in the first nine months of the fiscal year hit a record $2.7 trillion, nearly double the largest full-year deficit on record, according to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates.

• In June alone, the deficit hit $863 billion, more than 107 times the $8 billion deficit recorded in June of last year.
• The deficit is on track to exceed $3.8 trillion, shattering the $1.4 trillion record set in 2009 as the global financial crisis led to the Great Recession.
• The huge increase in the deficit comes amid an ongoing pandemic and extraordinary federal measures to keep the economy from collapse.

The Hill’s Niv Elis breaks it down here.

LEADING THE DAY

Democrats sidestep budget deal by seeking $250B in emergency spending: House Democrats are seeking to boost federal spending by about $250 billion in a move that would sidestep a budget deal reached last year with Republicans and the White House.

The proposed emergency spending for coronavirus relief, infrastructure, veterans care and a slew of other priorities would exceed the bipartisan budget caps on funding for annual appropriations bills.

While the proposed amount is just a fraction of the almost $3 trillion approved by Congress for coronavirus relief this year, House Republicans say the gambit will complicate efforts to eventually reconcile spending bills with the GOP-controlled Senate.

“We are only on our first day of subcommittee markups, and I already have serious concerns about our path forward,” Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, said Monday as the House kicked off the process of marking up the 12 annual spending bills that fund the government.

Niv tells us why here.

House panel advances spending bill with funding boost to IRS: A House subcommittee on Wednesday advanced a financial services spending bill for fiscal 2021 that would increase the IRS’s budget by roughly $600 million.

The House Appropriations Committee’s financial services and general government subcommittee approved the measure by voice vote. The measure now heads to the full committee, where lawmakers will give it further scrutiny and debate amendments.

The bill covers portions of the federal government that include the Treasury Department, the federal judiciary, the executive office of the president, the Small Business Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.

The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda has more here.

GOOD TO KNOW

• A task force set up by former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to bridge policy divides within the Democratic Party on Wednesday called for the creation of a government-run banking system set up through the Federal Reserve and U.S. Postal Service.
• Stocks on Wednesday closed with gains, fueled by a rise in technology and entertainment stocks.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will issue additional guidance next week on reopening schools, Vice President Pence said Wednesday, hours after President Trump criticized the agency’s current guidelines as “very tough and expensive.”
• Top state and local election officials on Wednesday begged Congress to appropriate more election funding ahead of November to address COVID-19 challenges. 
• The New York Times: “Robinhood Has Lured Young Traders, Sometimes With Devastating Results”
• CNBC: “Bed Bath & Beyond to close 200 stores over 2 years as sales fall almost 50% during pandemic”