US budget deficit jumps to record $1.7 trillion this year
The U.S. government’s budget deficit surged to an all-time high of $1.7 trillion for the first six months of this budget year
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The U.S. government's budget deficit surged to an all-time high of $1.7 trillion for the first six months of this budget year, nearly double the previous record, as another round of economic-support checks added billions of dollars to spending last month.
In its monthly budget report, the Treasury Department said Monday that the deficit for the first half of the budget year — from October through March — was up from a shortfall of $743.5 billion for the same period a year ago.
The deficit has been driven higher by trillions of dollars in support Congress has passed in successive economic rescue packages since the pandemic struck in early March 2020. The latest round came in a $1.9 trillion measure that President Joe Biden pushed through Congress last month.
Biden's package included individual support payments of up to $1,400 and the administration rushed to make those payments as soon Biden signed the measure into law. The Treasury statement showed that the payments in March totaled $339 billion.
The budget report showed that the deficit for just March totaled $659.6 billion, the third-highest monthly deficit. For the six month period, the $1.7 trillion deficit total surpassed the previous record of an $829 billion deficit run up for the six month's ending in March 2011, a period when the government was spending to deal with the adverse effects of the recession caused by the 2008 financial crisis.
Last year's deficit, for the budget year that ended Sept. 30 totaled a record $3.1 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in February that this year's deficit would total $2.3 trillion. But that estimate did not include the cost of Biden's $1.9 trillion rescue plan that Congress passed in March or the impact of Biden's “Build Back Better” infrastructure proposal that Congress is considering now.