CBO Estimates FY 2026 Deficit Overtakes 2025, Totals $1.4 Trillion

The United States borrowed $1.4 trillion in the first nine months of Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, including $126 billion in June, according to the latest Monthly Budget Review from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). This is $35 billion more than at this time in FY 2025.

The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: 

The FY 2026 deficit has now passed the FY 2025 deficit – and it is likely to stay that way for the rest of the fiscal year. After the deficit coming down between FY 2024 and 2025 due to the administration’s tariff revenue and some one-time changes in spending, the new tax cuts and spending increases are now pushing the deficit above last year’s level.

We will likely borrow $2 trillion or more this fiscal year – an astounding figure given that the economy keeps growing and unemployment is low. This is likely the tip of the iceberg; borrowing will soar if policymakers fail to get our entitlements under control, enact further unpaid-for tax cuts or spending increases, and otherwise ignore the need to cut spending and increase revenues. Social Security and Medicare are within seven years of trust fund exhaustion, and action needs to be taken to prevent across-the-board cuts to both programs.

None of this is normal. Policymakers should instead be targeting a much more sustainable deficit at 3% of GDP, putting together a bipartisan commission to address our fiscal situation and entitlements, and perhaps most importantly, being honest with the public about the grave dangers we face by remaining on this unsustainable path. 

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For more information, please contact Matt Klucher, Assistant Director for Media Relations, at klucher@crfb.org