The government collected $4.92 trillion in revenue this year but spent $6.75 trillion, leading to the $1.83 trillion deficit|Gage Skidmore|CC BY-SA 2.0
The US budget deficit reached $1.83 trillion for fiscal 2024, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office. It is the highest deficit in the post-COVID era as debt interest costs jumped sharply and federal outlays rose for entitlement programs.
The budget deficit indicates that the government spent more than it made.
It collected $4.92 trillion in revenue this year but spent $6.75 trillion, leading to the ~$2 trillion deficit.
Entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare and hefty interest payments drove the deficit. The US spent $950 billion in interest—34% more than the previous year. That’s more than the entire military budget.
With continued fiscal imbalance, Congress faces difficulty reaching a budget deal for 2025 and addressing the debt ceiling, which comes up on January 2.
The financial situation poses challenges to whoever wins the upcoming presidential election.
Be it Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump, they will need to make big decisions on federal spending, tax cuts and the debt limit.
Both candidates have proposed tax and spending plans that could add trillions more to the deficit. A recent nonpartisan analysis revealed that Trump’s proposals would increase it by $7.5 trillion, while Harris’s would add $3.5 trillion.