Congressional Budget Office raises this year’s federal budget deficit projection by $400 billion

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that it projects this year’s federal budget deficit to be $400 billion higher, a 27% increase compared to its original estimate released in February.

The major drivers of the change include: higher costs from the supplemental spending package signed in April that provides military aid to Ukraine and Israel; higher than estimated costs of reducing student loan borrower balances; increased Medicaid spending; and higher spending on FDIC insurance after the agency has not yet recovered payments it made after the banking crises of 2023and 2024.

The report also projects that the nation’s publicly held debt is set to increase from 99% of gross domestic product at the end of 2024 to 122% of GDP — the highest level ever recorded — by the end of 2034. “Then it continues to rise,” the report states.

Deficits are a problem for lawmakers in the coming years because of the burden of servicing the total debt load, an aging population that pushes up the total cost of Social Security and Medicare and rising health care expenses.

The report cuts into President Joe Biden’s claim that he has lowered deficits, as borrowing increased in 2023 and is slated to climb again this year.

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