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IPFS News Link • Government Debt & Financing

Federal Government to Conclude Fiscal 2020 With Record Spending

• https://www.nextgov.com By Frank Konkel

The federal government's fiscal 2020 year ends today at midnight and federal spending has eclipsed $6 trillion for the first time ever—and that's without data from September, the final month federal officials can obligate annual Congressionally-appropriated funds before they expire.

According to data from the Treasury Department, total government spending in fiscal 2020 reached $6.1 trillion by Aug. 31. The 2020 budget deficit now stands at $3 trillion through August—also a first, meaning the government has spent $3 trillion more than it has taken in this year—following 11 consecutive months of deficit spending compounded by the coronavirus pandemic. The current budget deficit is nearly twice as large as the previous highest deficit run in fiscal 2009 amid a national recession.

Fiscal 2020 spending has been dominated by health care, entitlements and the military, with the Health and Human Services Department ($1.3 trillion), Social Security Administration ($1.2 trillion) and Defense Department ($690 billion) the top-three spending agencies. While the Treasury has not tabulated the government's COVID-19 spending, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates the government has committed or disbursed $2.2 trillion in economic relief.


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