A $2 trillion deficit looms over the midterms

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The federal budget deficit rose to nearly $2 trillion for the past fiscal year, which ended September 30, the Treasury Department reported Friday.

It was the largest annual deficit since 2021, during the height of the pandemic, when the federal government doled out support to keep the economy and Americans afloat.

This past fiscal year’s deficit was 12% higher than the prior year’s $1.78 trillion gap.

Net interest payments on the public debt topped $1 trillion for the first time, driven up in part by the nation’s skyrocketing debt levels and higher interest rates. The United States spent more on interest than on any category other than Social Security and Medicare.

The deficit also grew because the Trump administration had to issue refunds after the Supreme Court found that certain global tariffs it imposed violated federal law . The Treasury Department estimates that about $145 billion in tariff refunds was issued in the last fiscal year.

Although the economy is in relatively good shape, the nation’s fiscal health has worsened in recent years with neither Republicans nor Democrats on Capitol Hill willing to fully address the issue.

“Today’s deficit figures cap off a remarkably dismal year for our fiscal health,” Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said in a statement. “Fiscal discipline requires finding something both achievable and aggressive … Tough choices will be needed to get there, and we’re running out of time to make them.”

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Federal budget deficit climbs to $2 trillion as fiscal jitters multiply

The US debt hit a record $40 trillion in August, a grim milestone that will have consequences for Americans, businesses and the government for years to come. Yet the “big, beautiful bill” that President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans enacted last year is expected to add trillions more to the national debt over a decade as its generous tax breaks outweigh the package’s spending cuts.

The nation’s growing financial woes, along with rising corporate debt supply and expectations for higher Federal Reserve interest rates, have sparked turmoil in bond markets in recent months. Investors are increasingly jittery, which has sent rates on US debt soaring: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note recently hit its highest level since 2002. That has also led to higher mortgage rates, making it even more difficult to buy and sell homes.

With rising deficits, the government has to issue more bonds to fund its spending. Yields on bonds have soared this year as investors demand more compensation to hold US debt. That raises the government’s cost of borrowing, exacerbating concerns about the mounting debt burden.

The average weighted interest rate of the debt outstanding was 3.53% at the end of the fiscal year, up from 3.36% at the end of the prior fiscal year, according to the Treasury Department.

Meanwhile, the deficit as a share the nation’s economy was more than 6% in the last fiscal year, according to Treasury’s rough estimate. That’s more than twice Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s goal.

The Republicans’ sweeping tax cuts are also starting to have an effect. Although many businesses are raking in higher profits, gross corporate tax revenue declined by $43 billion, or 9%.

The “big, beautiful bill” allowed companies to take larger deductions for certain investments. Most of the “big, beautiful bill’s” historic cuts – notably to Medicaid – don’t start kicking in until next year.

At the same time, Social Security benefits are becoming more costly as the nation ages, which also contributed to the widening gap between revenue and spending.

Lawmakers will likely have another chance to address the nation’s fiscal problems next year, when the US is once again expected to hit the debt ceiling .

CNN’s John Towfighi contributed to this report.

穆罕默德·埃瑟/阿纳多卢/盖蒂图片社

美国财政部周五公布的数据显示，截至9月30日结束的上一财年，联邦预算赤字增至近2万亿美元。

这是自 2021 年疫情高峰期以来最大的年度赤字，当时联邦政府发放援助以维持经济和美国民众的生活。

上一财年的赤字比上一财年的1.78万亿美元赤字高出12%。

公共债务净利息支出首次突破1万亿美元大关，部分原因是国家债务水平飙升和利率走高。除社会保障和医疗保险外，美国的利息支出超过了其他任何类别。

赤字扩大的另一个原因是，最高法院裁定特朗普政府征收的某些全球关税违反了联邦法律，导致政府不得不退还部分关税。财政部估计，上个财政年度发放的关税退款约为1450亿美元。

尽管经济状况相对良好，但近年来国家的财政状况却有所恶化，国会山的共和党人和民主党人都不愿彻底解决这个问题。

“今天的赤字数据为我们糟糕的财政状况画上了句号，”负责任联邦预算委员会主席玛雅·麦克吉尼斯在一份声明中表示。“财政纪律要求我们找到既切实可行又富有魄力的方案……要实现这一目标，我们需要做出艰难的抉择，而我们留给我们的时间已经不多了。”

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联邦预算赤字攀升至2万亿美元，财政紧张局势加剧

美国债务在8月份突破了创纪录的40万亿美元，这一严峻的里程碑将对美国民众、企业和政府产生深远的影响。然而，特朗普总统和国会共和党人去年通过的“庞大而美好的法案”预计将在未来十年内使国家债务再增加数万亿美元，因为该法案慷慨的减税措施抵消了其削减开支的力度。

美国日益严重的财政困境，加上企业债务供应不断增加以及市场对美联储加息的预期，引发了近几个月来债券市场的动荡。投资者愈发紧张，导致美国国债收益率飙升：10年期美国国债收益率近期触及2002年以来的最高水平。这也推高了抵押贷款利率，使得房屋买卖更加困难。

随着财政赤字不断增加，政府不得不发行更多债券来为其支出筹集资金。今年以来，由于投资者要求更高的持有美国国债的回报，债券收益率飙升。这提高了政府的借贷成本，加剧了人们对债务负担日益加重的担忧。

据财政部统计，截至本财政年度末，未偿债务的平均加权利率为 3.53%，高于上一财政年度末的 3.36%。

与此同时，据财政部粗略估计，上个财政年度的财政赤字占国民经济的比例超过6%。这比财政部长斯科特·贝森特的目标高出两倍多。

共和党的全面减税政策也开始产生影响。尽管许多企业的利润有所增长，但企业税收总额却下降了430亿美元，降幅达9%。

这项“庞大而美好的法案”允许公司就某些投资获得更高的税收抵免。该法案中大部分历史性的削减措施——尤其是对医疗补助计划的削减——要到明年才会生效。

与此同时，随着国家人口老龄化，社会保障福利的成本越来越高，这也导致了收入和支出之间差距的扩大。

明年，当美国预计再次触及债务上限时，立法者们很可能将再次有机会解决国家的财政问题。

CNN的约翰·托菲吉对本报道亦有贡献。