CBO Reports $173 Billion Deficit for June

For Immediate Release

The United States borrowed over $2.2 trillion in the first nine months of fiscal year 2021, including $173 billion in June, according to the latest Monthly Budget Review from the Congressional Budget Office. The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:

The federal government has borrowed over $10 billion per day for the last 15 months. It is no wonder the national debt is as large as the economy. Much of the reason our finances are in such bad shape is we entered this crisis already over-leveraged as a nation.

Borrowing made sense to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn. But while more work may still need to be done to end the pandemic and assure a full economic recovery, policymakers have now spent what is necessary to support the recovery – and then some.

Borrowing for the past year made sense; the borrowing we are planning for the future years unequivocally does not.

Going forward, we need to begin to focus on getting our fiscal house in order. That starts with paying for new initiatives. As the economy truly recovers, we need to begin an honest conversation about how we’re going to rescue trust funds headed toward insolvency, control spending growth, raise adequate revenue, and stem our nation’s growing debt.

This country doesn’t need austerity, but we do need responsibility. The question we should be asking our political leaders at this point is, why do you think it is right to ask our children to pay for the policies we are unwilling to pay for ourselves?

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For more information, please contact Ben Tomchik, deputy chief of staff, at tomchik@crfb.org