The U.S. government added $1.2 trillion to the national debt over the past six months, borrowing $163 billion during March alone, the Congressional Budget Office reports.
At the current rate of borrowing, federal deficits are on track to top $2 trillion by October, the end of the current fiscal year.
But the president’s recent budget request – which lawmakers will use as a blueprint for the 12 fiscal year 2027 appropriations bills – calls for $2.1 trillion in discretionary spending alone, without touching entitlement program spending.
“Both Congress and the President continue to ignore the urgent need to get our borrowing under control,” Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said in a statement.
“As lawmakers consider the budget process for the upcoming fiscal year, we hope that they come up with plans to reduce deficits from the too-high 6% of GDP to a more sustainable 3% of GDP; secure our nation’s ailing trust funds for Social Security, Medicare, and highways; and ultimately fix the broken process that got us into this mess.”