Deficit Soars as Biden Heads Out the Door

The most recent federal numbers present the U.S. deficit is hovering as President Joe Biden heads out of workplace.

The U.S. Congressional Price range Workplace launched its month-to-month finances assessment on Monday, which confirmed that within the first two months of this fiscal 12 months, the federal authorities has run up a deficit of $622 billion.

“That quantity is $242 billion greater than the deficit recorded throughout the identical interval final fiscal 12 months,” CBO mentioned in its report.

That determine means the deficit is sort of 40% greater than this time final 12 months.

“Probably the most alarming turkey in November was the federal authorities’s lack of ability to dwell inside its means,” Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Accountable Federal Price range, mentioned in a press release. “We’re solely two months into the fiscal 12 months, and we’ve got already borrowed a staggering $622 billion, with $365 billion within the month of November alone.”

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Deficits by no means surpassed one trillion {dollars} earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, they continue to be nicely above one trillion and for this subsequent fiscal 12 months are nicely past the tempo to surpass $1 trillion.

The deficit final fiscal 12 months was about $1.8 trillion.

Billionaire Elon Musk, now an advisor to President-elect Donald Trump, lamented the debt, which is about $36 trillion, on X Monday.

“If we don’t repair the deficit, all the things will endure, together with important spending like DoD, Medicare & Social Safety,” Musk mentioned. “It’s not elective.”

CBO did clarify that a few of the enhance is from accounting modifications.

From CBO:

The change within the deficit was influenced by the timing of outlays and revenues alike. Outlays in October 2023 had been decreased by shifts within the timing of sure federal funds that in any other case would have been due on October 1, 2023, which fell on a Sunday. (These funds had been made in September 2023.) Outlays in November 2024 had been boosted by the shift to that month of funds due December 1, 2024, a Saturday. If not for these shifts, the deficit to date in fiscal 12 months 2025 would have been $541 billion, or $88 billion greater than the shortfall at this level final 12 months, and outlays would have been $38 billion extra.”

Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.