This is how President Obama proposes allocating $1.16 trillion in discretionary spending in fiscal year 2015.
Federal expenditures fall into five main categories: health insurance (Medicaid and Medicare), retirement benefits (Social Security), national defense, interest on the debt and "other spending" (a broad category that covers spending on education, housing, transportation, agriculture, etc.).
The United States spent $725 billion on national defense during fiscal year (FY) 2020 according to the Office of Management and Budget, which amounts to 11 percent of federal spending.
For the 2018–2027 period, CBO projects the sum of the annual deficits (i.e., debt increase) to be $11.7 trillion, an increase of $1.6 trillion (16%) over the previous baseline (June 2017) forecast of $10.1 trillion.
The National Debt Is Now More than $28 Trillion.
There are two types of spending in the federal budget process: discretionary and mandatory.
2014 United States federal budget
| Submitted | April 10, 2013 |
|---|
| Total expenditures | $3.77 trillion (requested) $3.506 trillion (actual) 20.3% of GDP (actual) |
| Deficit | $744 billion (requested) 4.4% of GDP (requested) $484.6 billion (actual) 2.8% of GDP (actual) |
| Debt | $17.79 trillion (at fiscal end) 103.2% of GDP |
| GDP | $17.244 trillion |
2017 United States federal budget
| Submitted | February 9, 2016 |
|---|
| Submitted to | 114th Congress |
| Total revenue | $3.644 trillion (requested) $3.316 trillion (actual) 17.3% of GDP |
| Total expenditures | $4.147 trillion (requested) $3.982 trillion (actual) 20.8% of GDP |
| Deficit | $503 billion (requested) $665 billion (actual) 3.5% of GDP |
In fiscal year 2019 (Oct. 1, 2018, to Sept. 30, 2019), the federal government collected $3.5 trillion in revenue.
The federal deficit in 2016 was $587 billion, equal to 3.2 percent of gross domestic product.
Revenues received by the federal government in 2016 totaled $3.3 trillion, of which $1.5 trillion was receipts of individual income taxes.
The President's Budget provides a total of $94.7 billion in discretionary and mandatory funding in 2016 for the Department of Transportation to support infrastructure projects critical for long-term growth; improve America's roads, bridges, transit systems, railways, and aviation systems; enhance safety; spur job
The current U.S. debt is $23.3 trillions as of February 2020.
Social Security and labor, Medicare and health programs, and military spending will make up 76 percent of the total budget, leaving just 24 percent, or $957 billion of the $4.1 trillion total, to spend on all other programs.
2008 United States federal budget
| Submitted | February 5, 2007 |
|---|
| Deficit | $239 billion (requested) $458.6 billion (actual) 3.1% of GDP (actual) |
| Debt | $9.986 trillion (at fiscal end) 67.7% of GDP (actual) |
| GDP | $14.752 trillion |
| Website | Office of Management and Budget |
As Figure A suggests, Social Security is the single largest mandatory spending item, taking up 38% or nearly $1,050 billion of the $2,736 billion total. The next largest expenditures are Medicare and Income Security, with the remaining amount going to Medicaid, Veterans Benefits, and other programs.
Government spending for FY 2021 budget is $4.829 trillion.
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.
In 2020, the government spent $6.55 trillion.Why does the federal government do this?
How much is the U.S. in debt to China? The United States currently owes China around $1.1 trillion as of 2021. China broke the trillion-dollar mark back in 2011 according to the U.S. Treasury report.
The rest comes from a mix of sources.
- TOTAL REVENUES.
- INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX.
- CORPORATE INCOME TAX.
- SOCIAL INSURANCE (PAYROLL) TAXES.
- FEDERAL EXCISE TAXES.
- OTHER REVENUES.
- SHARES OF TOTAL REVENUE.
- Updated May 2020.
The three main sources of federal tax revenue are individual income taxes, payroll taxes, and corporate income taxes.
The U.S. Treasury divides all federal spending into three groups: mandatory spending, discretionary spending and interest on debt. Mandatory and discretionary spending account for more than ninety percent of all federal spending, and pay for all of the government services and programs on which we rely.
Historically, military spending has been the single largest portion of Federal Funds budget. Since World War II, the percentage that goes to the military — current and past spending — has varied from 45 to 90 percent. Income tax money goes only into the Federal Funds part of the budget.
