12-Month Rolling Deficit is $1.8 Trillion in August 2026

The federal government borrowed $1.8 trillion over the past 12 months according to new estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

CBO estimates that the August 2026 deficit totaled $168 billion – with $359 billion in revenue and $527 billion in outlays. The monthly deficit in August 2026 is $177 billion less than the $345 billion deficit in August 2025; however, all of the improvement was due to timing shifts where August 1 fell on a weekend in 2026 and September 1 fell on Labor Day in 2025, which pushed payments for September 2025 into August 2025. If not for timing shifts in both years, the deficit would have been $257 billion in August 2025 and $267 billion in August 2026 – a $10 billion increase. 

Total spending in August 2026 was $162 billion below August 2025 levels or $25 billion higher when adjusted for timing shifts. Revenue totaled $359 billion in August – an increase of $15 billion from last year – driven by an increase in individual income and payroll tax collections somewhat offset by a decline in collections of customs duties, mostly due to tariff refunds.

Over the past 12 months, total revenue was $5.4 trillion compared to $5.2 trillion over the same period prior. Spending was $7.2 trillion over the past 12 months compared to $7.1 trillion in the same period prior. We estimate the $1.8 trillion rolling deficit is about 5.5% of Gross Domestic Product.