The U.S.’ national deficit surged in February as income declined and expenses rose, resulting in the federal government spending more than double what it collected in the month, according to a release from the Treasury Department.
According to the Treasury Department, the federal government collected $271 billion in February, mostly through taxes, social insurance, and retirement payments, but spent $567 billion, a difference of $296 billion that was funded by an increase in the national debt.
The gain in February brings the total national debt increase in fiscal year 2024 to $828 billion, which began in October 2023.
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According to the Treasury, the national debt totaled $34.71 trillion at the end of February, with $27.38 trillion of that held by the public and $7.09 trillion held by other government organizations. The federal government recently passed the $34 trillion debt mark right before the start of 2023.
The government has already paid $433 billion in gross interest expenses in fiscal year 2024, far higher than the $306 billion paid at this point in the last fiscal year. For the current fiscal year, the Treasury anticipates that it will pay over $1 trillion in interest costs.
The largest expenses in February were Social Security, which cost $121 billion, and Income Security, which cost $90 billion. National defense was the sixth most expensive outlay at $65 billion, just under net interest at $67 billion.
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According to the report, social insurance and retirement payments, which totaled $129 billion, and individual income taxes, which totaled $121 billion, were by far the greatest sources of income in the month.
In addition to the federal government’s massive debt, the U.S. is also estimated to have over $90 trillion in unfunded liabilities that it is responsible for, which has grown from just over $11 trillion in 2001.
A Biden administration official claimed that 90% of the non-emergency increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio since 2001 has been the result of tax cuts, the official told the Daily Caller News Foundation in response to a request to comment. The official argued that Biden’s recently proposed budget would reduce the national deficit by $3 trillion through taxing wealthy individuals and big corporations.
If President Joe Biden’s budget proposal is enacted, it is estimated that the debt would increase to $42.5 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2028, around the time his presumptive second term would end.
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