USAFacts

Welcome to #JustTheFacts, a new series featuring our founder Steve Ballmer and data directly from the US government. Americans deserve clear, trustworthy facts to make up their minds on today’s most pressing issues. Join Steve as he walks through the data on immigration, the economy, healthcare, and much more to help you inform your perspective. Get the numbers — not rhetoric — ahead of the US elections. Watch our first episodes tomorrow 8/1 on Fox at 9 PM ET/PT and 8PM CT/MT. https://lnkd.in/gDAes94B

? Time to spring forward! This weekend, many of us will lose an hour of sleep (ugh) but gain more evening sunlight (yay) as we switch to daylight saving time (DST). Since 2018, the push to ditch the clock changes and stay on DST permanently has been growing. 20 states have passed laws to make DST permanent — but they can't make the switch without a change to federal laws. So what’s your take? Is DST still necessary or should we scrap the clock changes for good?

Raise your hand if the news is making you feel a certain way right now ??♀? I’m anxious, overwhelmed, and worried. When I joined USAFacts 18 months ago, I couldn’t have imagined just how relevant our mission would be to contextualizing these wild times. Our team has never been busier - or more committed - to delivering nonpartisan, data-rich information to help people understand what’s actually happening in our government. USAFacts was born out of Steve Ballmer’s vision that every American should have access to objective data to better participate in our democracy. We have no revenue model - truly none. We are a public good. We might be one of the last (the last?) truly unbiased places on the internet. So, I’ll be using this space to share resources that provide data-backed context to the news. It is boring on purpose - be warned! But, that is kind of the point - a place to go just for data and definitions and nothing else. First up: federal school funding As a parent of a kindergartener and a second grader in Seattle Public Schools - and with my husband teaching second grade just south of the city - I’ve been closely following the discussion about the potential dismantling of the Department of Education. To help understand what this could mean, we used our #AI-powered content engine to analyze the percent of federal dollars funding every school district in the country. https://lnkd.in/gnWG5DAA. For Seattle Public Schools it's 9.3%; in huge districts like Houston Public Schools it is 23.2%; and in some rural Texas districts it is upwards of 50% of all district funding. It’s a critical data point for assessing the impact of any policy change that will vary widely depending on where you live. You can use the geography picker to find your state's data. But funding is just one piece of the picture. What does federal money actually do in schools? We break it down here: https://lnkd.in/gjaWUcfh And what exactly is the Department of Education’s mandate? Read it for yourself: https://lnkd.in/gQ6ApXKp We’re working hard to create explainers like this for every government agency, starting with the ten largest by budget + USAID and others recently in the news. If you have something you want us to dig into, shoot me a note. The facts are here - come and get 'em. #EducationFunding #PublicSchools #GovernmentData #USAFacts

??How does the federal government support public?#education? In 2022, the government budgeted $96.2 billion for elementary and secondary education. 46.4% of that came from the Department of Education. Despite its name, the?U.S. Department of Education?isn’t the only federal player in student support. Agencies like?U.S. Department of the Interior,?USDA, and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs also provide funding and specialized programs. About 13.7% or $1 in every $7 of public school funding comes from the federal government. Depending on the district, that number can range from 0% to 75%. In 2022, school districts in Mississippi, South Dakota, and Arkansas leaned the most on federal funding. But if we’re talking dollars per student, Alaska, Washington DC, and North Dakota took the top spots.

Today, the US rolled out #tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China. In response, all three countries announced tariffs of their own. In 2023, Mexico and Canada were the US' top export partners, each taking in over $300 billion in US exports — China was third with $148 billion. The US' #1 import? ??Capital goods — aka the machinery and tools used in production. In 2023, the US brought in $865 billion worth of these goods, with 17% coming from China and another 17% from Mexico. When it comes to consumer goods, 28% — or $210.2 billion — came from China alone. In 2023, industrial supplies topped US #exports at $719.6 billion, with Mexico (17.5%) and Canada (14.6%) at the top. Mexico also took $100.3 billion (16.6%) in production-related goods, while 37.9% of US auto exports went to Canada. In 2022, soybeans were the US’s top export to China, making up 11.6% of overall US exports to the country. In 2018, soybean exports to China dropped 75% following the US-China #TradeWar. They’ve since rebounded to pre-2018 levels.

??Take a crack at our Tuesday trivia.

What is NATO? ???Formed in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an alliance of 32 countries across Europe and North America, all agreeing to back each other up if one gets attacked.? ? NATO countries have 2 funding obligations: ? ? Contribute to the common fund (based on their economy).? ? Commit to spend 2% of a country’s GDP on its own national defense. Historically, the US spends more than other members.? ? Does NATO have its own military? ?? The NATO Response Force is an on-call multinational force of 40,000 troops contributed by various members on a rotating basis. As of 2023, NATO members’ combined active military forces totaled an estimated 3.3 million. The US military accounts for approximately 42% of that number.? ? What are your thoughts on #NATO? Is it an effective deterrent against threats or does it need to evolve??

On March 4, President Trump will deliver his first major address of his second term — a joint address to Congress (basically a State of the Union without the official title). Historically, these speeches outline priorities and policies but are often heavy on bias. That's where we come in! ?? Our 2025 State of the Union Report is a non-partisan snapshot of where the country actually stands — using just the facts. How you use them to push for the changes you care about? That’s up to you. https://lnkd.in/ghperAvw

Complex government spending doesn’t have to be confusing. Seriously.?That’s why we created this comprehensive Sankey diagram — ?so?you can track every dollar of the federal budget. (Did we mention it’s interactive? Because it totally is.)? ? Blue = where the money comes from. Pink = where it goes.???Bonus tip: The taller the segment, the bigger the cash flow.? ? Follow the budget, and tell us where you think it should go:?https://lnkd.in/gm5KPAZw

Happy Tuesday Trivia to all who celebrate.??