THE FEDERAL BUDGET DEFICIT is at a near-record high (Shutterstock).

Not all the financial statistics grabbing deadlines this week regard the state of the stock market. On Thursday the Treasury Department released data showing that the federal budget deficit for the first half of 2024 was more than $1.3 trillion.

According to the Associated Press, that’s the second-highest six-month deficit on record. The statistics cover the last month of the Biden Administration and five months of the second Donald Trump administration

The data is believed to reflect a combination of increased spending, cost-of-living increases to Social Security recipients, disaster assistance and other expenses.

In a related action, House Republicans on Thursday approved a plan that includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and “at least” $1.5 trillion in reductions in federal programs and services, the AP is reporting.

Supreme Court: ‘Bring Abrego Garcia back’

The federal government was instructed Thursday by the U.S. Supreme Court to bring back from an El Salvador prison Abrego Garcia, a migrant wrongful deported to that nation.

U.S. SUPREME COURT building in Washington, D.C.

The New York Times reported that an unsigned order from the court endorsed a lower court order that “properly requires the government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”

In a separate statement, the three liberal justices criticized Garcia’s arrest and deportation, saying they had “no basis in law.”

ALSO IN THE NEWS: A tour helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York City on Thursday; six people perished … The Dow Jones Average fell 1,104.79 points and other market indexes declined as well, a downturn that followed Wednesday rally that followed President Donald Trump’s 90-day “pause” of major tariff increases …

Weather: Turning cool now

As predicted, temperatures in the West Orange County area are headed down. The forecast for Friday is for a daytime high of 81 and an overnight low of 55 under partly cloudy skies. Saturday will cool to 73 (55) and cloudy with a 14 percent chance of rain. Sunday will be similar 72 (52) with mostly sunny skies and Monday cooler still at 70 (52) and partly cloudy.