Executive
Waste of the Day: Federal Deficit Projection Up 27% Since February
The Congressional Budget Office now projects a 27 percent higher federal deficit now than in February 2024.
Topline: The Congressional Budget Office projects that the federal government will have a budget deficit of $1.9 trillion this year, $400 billion more than was projected in February.
Deficit higher than ever
Key facts: The CBO named four factors that contributed to the $400 billion increase.
Since February, President Biden’s administration has made or proposed changes to its student loan forgiveness policy that the CBO estimates will cost the federal government an extra $145 billion. If Biden’s plan from April to expand loan forgiveness is enacted, that projection rises to $211 billion; it falls to $79 billion if not.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is also taking longer than expected to get back the money it loaned to avert bank failures last year, adding $70 billion to the deficit.
New laws passed since February added another $60 billion in expenditures, and projected Medicaid spending has risen by $50 billion.
The CBO now expects the total federal deficit over the next 10 years to be $22.1 trillion. That’s an average of $2.2 trillion per year; the deficit has only ever been that high during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. The deficit was $1.7 trillion last year.
Each year that the federal budget sits at a deficit — meaning the government spent more money than it earned — increases our national debt, which currently sits at $34.7 trillion.
That means interest payments on the debt are also expected to reach historic highs. Every year from 2025 to 2034, the CBO expects the U.S. to spend at least 3.4% of its gross domestic product on interest. That hasn’t happened in any year since at least 1940.
Social Security and Medicare
Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.
Background: The CBO says more than half of the projected increase in federal spending over the next decade will go toward Social Security and health programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which will take up 68% of the federal budget by 2034 unless changes are made.
OpenTheBooks’ previous analysis of government projections for these programs revealed an even darker long-term forecast: Social Security and Medicare will be depleted by 2041 and eventually be underfunded by $175.3 trillion under current policy.
Few, if any, current politicians are willing to take on the publicly-toxic challenge of reducing future Social Security benefits, but that may soon be inevitable.
Summary: The time is now for our federal government to curb spending and get serious about retaking control of our economic future.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.
Adam Andrzejewski (say: Angie-eff-ski) was the CEO/founder of OpenTheBooks.com. Before dedicating his life to public service, Adam co-founded HomePages Directories, a $20 million publishing company (1997-2007). His works have been featured on the BBC, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, C-SPAN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, FOX News, CNN, National Public Radio (NPR), Forbes, Newsweek, and many other national media.
Today, OpenTheBooks.com is the largest private repository of U.S. public-sector spending. Mission: post "every dime, online, in real time." In 2022, OpenTheBooks.com captured nearly all public expenditures in the country, including nearly all disclosed federal government spending; 50 of 50 state checkbooks; and 25 million public employee salary and pension records from 50,000 public bodies across America.
The group's aggressive transparency and forensic auditing of government spending has led to the assembly of grand juries, indictments, and successful prosecutions; congressional briefings, hearings, and subpoenas; Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits; Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports; federal legislation; and much more.
Our Honorary Chairman - In Memoriam is U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, MD.
Andrzejewski's federal oversight work was included in the President's Budget To Congress FY2021. The budget cited his organization by name, bullet-pointed their findings, and footnoted/hyperlinked to their report.
Posted on YouTube, Andrzejewski's presentation, The Depth of the Swamp, at the Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar 2020 in Naples, Florida received 3.8 million views.
Andrzejewski has spoken at the Columbia School of Journalism, Harvard Law School and the law schools at Georgetown and George Washington regarding big data journalism. As a senior policy contributor at Forbes, Adam had nearly 20 million pageviews on 206 published investigations. In 2022, investigative fact-finding on Dr. Fauci's finances led to his cancellation at Forbes.
In 2022, Andrzejewski did 473 live television and radio interviews across broadcast, major cable platforms, and radio shows. Andrzejewski is the author of The Waste of the Day column at Real Clear Policy. The column is syndicated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of nearly 200 ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX affiliates across USA.
Andrzejewski passed away in his sleep at his home in in Hinsdale, Illinois, on August 18, 2024. He is survived by his wife Kerry and three daughters. He also served as a lector at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church and finished the Chicago Marathon eight times (PR 3:58.49 in 2022).
Waste of the Day articles published after August 18, 2024 are considered posthumous publications.
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