By Damian Paletta

Good morning. Washington is at war over immigration policy. Foreign policy. Tech policy. Heck, even Kennedy Center policy.

But, shockingly, few people are talking about this: the incredible exploding budget deficit that could swallow everything else.

The Congressional Budget Office (remember them?) last week put out an "are you sitting down?" report that projected the U.S. government will spend $1 trillion on interest payments for its debt this year. One. Trillion. Dollars. To finance its gigantic and growing debt. And it will only get worse from there.

It also projected that the U.S. government will spend $1.853 trillion more than it brings in through revenue this year (that's the budget deficit) and have an even wider gap in 2027. Talks of slashing spending and making difficult choices last year have given way to election-year spending-increase promises in 2026. Perhaps complicating matters more, DOGE never really caught on in 2025, and Republicans seem reluctant to repeat that experiment any time soon.

Budget angst tends to come in waves, but the debt never stops growing. I wrote about the $13.7 trillion debt here in 2010. That was $25 trillion ago.

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People and Policies I'm Watching

Iran-U. S. talks: Another round of negotiations, mediated by Oman, has begun in Geneva, even as the U.S. steadily builds up its military presence in the Middle East, with Iran pitching new ideas but not the one that matters to President Trump.

Homeland Security shutdown: The shutdown enters Day 4, with little chance of an end in sight after Congress failed to reach a deal on immigration-enforcement policies.

Trump's Tuesday: President Trump is to participate in ambassador credentialing at 2 p.m., followed by policy meetings at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.

What I'm Following

Baby formula is next on MAHA's overhaul agenda. Under "Operation Stork Speed," the Trump administration plans a sweeping review of U.S. formula ingredients. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. summoned infant-formula executives to Washington last spring and quizzed them about seed oils, heavy metals and how U.S. formula stacks up against Europe's.

Europe has questions about the U.S. midterms. In hallway chats and private talks at last weekend's Munich Security Conference, Europeans peppered their guests on the prospects of Democrats retaking one of the two houses of Congress in November, interested in whether those results would either empower or check Trump's assertive foreign policy. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is trying to stop the rift from becoming a divorce.

Massachusetts Democrats are split on a proposed rent-control measure. A group of housing advocates and labor unions want to stop landlords from raising rents by more than the state's annual rate of inflation -- but no higher than 5% -- a year. Democratic Boston Mayor Michelle Wu supports the measure, but opposition is mounting, and Democratic Gov. Maura Healey has said she would vote against it on concerns that rent control stifles housing production.

What Else Is Happening

   -- Civil-rights leader and ordained minister Jesse Jackson, whose 1984 bid 
      for Democratic presidential nomination made him the first Black man to 
      wage a nationwide campaign for the White House, died at 84. 
 
   -- The fallout has begun from a court ruling that effectively turned off tax 
      deadlines, with some taxpayers arguing that the IRS charged them interest 
      or penalties they weren't required to pay during the pandemic. 
 
   -- New revelations in emails and texts published by the Justice Department 
      shed light on the extent of the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and 
      the former Prince Andrew. 
 
   -- The House and Senate are poised to work on reconciling the bills that 
      each chamber passed to address the U.S. housing shortage. 

What I'm Reading

   -- A Small Nuclear Reactor Just Landed in Utah. Here's What It Means for the 
      State (Salt Lake Tribune) 
 
   -- Democrats Set Sights on Rep. Crank's District, Which he Won by 14 points. 
      Will It Matter This Year? (Denver Post) 
 
   -- Senate GOP Considers Forcing Democrats to Keep Talking If They Want to 
      Filibuster Voting ID Bill (Washington Times) 

About Me

I'm Damian Paletta, The Wall Street Journal's Washington coverage chief. I've covered Washington for 22 years as a reporter and editor. I've covered the White House, Congress, national security, the federal budget, economics and multiple market meltdowns.

WSJ Politics brings you an expert guide to what's driving D.C., every weekday morning. Send your feedback to politics@wsj.com (if you're reading this in your inbox, you can just hit reply). This edition was curated and edited in collaboration with Joe Haberstroh and Michael Connolly. Got a tip for us? Here's how to submit.

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February 17, 2026 07:00 ET (12:00 GMT)

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