Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget President Maya MacGuineas warns that the nation’s $38 trillion debt and rising spending are ‘unsustainable,’ urging lawmakers to address entitlement reform and restore fiscal discipline.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Wednesday released data showing the federal government ran a $1.8 trillion budget deficit in fiscal year 2025 amid mounting interest costs on the nearly $38 trillion national debt.
The CBO estimated that the shortfall was slightly smaller than the prior year’s deficit, with the preliminary FY2025 deficit totaling $1.809 trillion versus the $1.817 trillion deficit recorded in FY2024.
One of the most significant drivers of the deficit was the rise in net interest costs incurred from servicing the national debt, which surpassed $1 trillion for the first time in U.S. history in FY2025. Debt service costs increased $80 billion, or 8%, from last year due to the…
