deficit will top $1 trillion this year but then will
decline over the next decade.
The Congressional Budget Office, however, is
projecting that the deficit will top $1 trillion
this year and remain above $1 trillion over the
next decade.
The actual deficit for the 2019 budget year,
which ended Sept. 30, was $984.4 billion,
up 26% from the 2018 imbalance. The rising
deficits reflect the impact of the $1.5 trillion
tax cut Trump pushed through Congress in
2017 and increased spending for military
and domestic programs that the president
has accepted as part of a budget deal
with Democrats.
In his new budget plan for the 2021 fiscal
year that starts on Oct. 1, Trump is proposing
spending $4.8 trillion but would seek to hold
down deficits by making cuts to domestic
programs like food stamps and Medicaid.
Trump’s plan projects that if Congress goes along
with his spending cuts, which is highly unlikely,
the budget would return to balance in 15 years.
Through the first four months of this budget
year, government spending has totaled a record
$1.57 trillion, up 10.3% from the same period
last year. Revenues also set a record for the first
four months of a budget year, increasing by
6.1% to $1.18 trillion.
The government first ran $1 trillion deficits
from 2009 through 2012 as revenues fell
during the worst recession since the 1930s.
Spending increased for safety-net programs
such as unemployment benefits and to rescue
banks and auto companies following the 2008
financial crisis.