Budget deficit for FY2024 hits $1.8 trillion, up from FY2023: CBO

The deficit totaled $1.8 trillion in FY2024, marking the second year in a row that deficits have totaled close to $2 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) monthly budget review.

In FY2023, the deficit was slightly lower at $1.7 trillion. 

In FY2019, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal deficit was $984 billion.

The deficit figures do not include the effects of the court reversed student loan forgiveness program. 

"We’re now borrowing $5 billion per day, while interest payments are soaring. At nearly $2 trillion, last year’s deficit was almost double pre-pandemic levels," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. "We face massive headwinds with debt set to reach an all-time record as a share of the economy by 2027; and we don’t even have a plan to address our fiscal challenges."

MacGuineas noted that lawmakers will face new hurdles in 2025 in addition to rising deficits, debt and interest. 

The new challenges she mentioned included the reinstatement of the debt ceiling, the end of the Fiscal Responsibility Act’s budget caps, and major tax and spending expirations. 

"Within the next dozen years, three major trust funds – for highways, Medicare, and Social Security – will run out of a reserves, forcing us to reckon with even tougher decisions on how to keep important government priorities afloat," she said. "These hurdles will present a test for policymakers, requiring them to either offset their desired outcomes with real budgetary savings or pass the bill on to the next generation. We cannot afford to continue to borrow at this rate indefinitely."