Alex Ossola

The company today announced a drop in sales for the ninth straight quarter.

Shares closed up 0.4 percent.

And employees of American Airlines are calling for its CEO to step down.

This week, directors of American's Flight Attendance Union issued a vote of no confidence in American Airlines CEO Robert Isom.

And last week, the pilots' union said it no longer believed management was improving the company's operations and financial performance.

Executives at American have pledged to get the airline back on track and get delays and cancellations under control.

Isom, through company representatives, declined to comment.

A new estimate out from the Congressional Budget Office today projected that the annual U.S.

budget deficit will worsen over the next decade.

It's expected to deepen from $1.85 trillion this year to $3 trillion by 2036.

WSJU's tax policy reporter Richard Rubin says there are three big factors behind this.

Rich says the CBO estimates that Republicans' tax cuts will also contribute to a bigger deficit.

He says having such a deep hole in the country's budget comes with risks.

That was WSJ U.S.

tax policy reporter Rich Rubin.

In other news out of Washington, we're exclusively reporting that the Pentagon has told a second aircraft carrier to prepare to head to the Middle East.

Trump hasn't yet given an official deployment order, and plans could change.

After his meeting today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump posted on social media that he preferred to make a deal with Iran.

Flights over El Paso resumed this morning, just a few hours after the airspace had been closed for, quote, special security reasons.

We learned that the Pentagon used a high-energy laser against what officials thought was a drug cartel drone.