The U.S. Treasury Department released the latest Monthly Treasury Statement on Tuesday, Jan. 13, revealing that the federal deficit reached $602 billion so far in the 2026 fiscal year

The federal budget deficit totaled $1.7 trillion in Calendar Year (CY) 2025, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The deficit in CY 2025 is $369 billion less than the $2.0 trillion deficit in CY 2024.

In Then and Now: A Look Back and Ahead at the Federal Budget (NBER Working Paper 34455), Alan J. Auerbach and William Gale develop fiscal projections that incorporate the recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and analyze the economic ramifications of rising debt levels.

Another challenge is that fraud is not easy to root out entirely. Historically, "only a small percentage of tax dollars lost to fraud are ever actually recovered by the government," said Bob Westbrooks, a fraud and corruption risk expert who served as executive director of the federal government’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.

Since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, the federal deficit has declined by $516 billion on a trailing-12-month basis. Spending is basically flat, but revenue is up a remarkable 8.5%. President Trump’s tariff barrage explains part of ...

During October, tax revenue remained robust at $404 billion, suggesting that the impact of October’s 20-year high in layoffs has yet to be felt. Year over year, the federal deficit grew in October by 7 percent, rising from $266 billion. Federal outlays ...

Discover how the U.S. federal budget works, its role in government spending, and its historical evolution, including details on revenues, deficits, and mandatory expenditures.

The Federal Budget Balance, a key indicator of the nation’s financial health, was recently reported. The balance, which measures the difference in value between the federal government’s income and expenditure during the reported month,