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The 2023 federal budget deficit has surged by 23% to $1.7 trillion, according to Treasury Department data released on Friday.
That’s the deepest yearly fiscal hole the nation has faced outside of the Covid era. Pandemic relief spending ballooned the shortfalls in 2020 through 2021. Those programs expired after President Joe Biden took office, creating a steep fall in the deficit last year. But now, the numbers show that the budget gap is back.
The Treasury Department says falling revenues were a significant factor this year. The data comes at a time when the president is asking Congress for $100 billion in foreign aid and security spending.
The last time there was a surplus in the budget was in 2001.