CBO Reports $2.1 Trillion Deficit for First Eight Months of FY 2021

For Immediate Release

The United States borrowed nearly $2.1 trillion in the first eight months of fiscal year 2021, 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 COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn called for a fast, large, and strong response from Congress. We met that challenge and then some, and now we need to take stock of our unsustainable fiscal outlook.

We’re borrowing even more this year than we did last year, and with nearly $2.1 trillion in deficits so far this year, our debt is rapidly approaching a new record. Once we are through the COVID-19 crisis, policymakers will need to work together to get our growing debt under control and secure our endangered trust funds.

It’s time to put an end to further government borrowing. Going forward, legislation should be fully paid for and reconciliation instructions should be budget neutral, if not deficit reducing. 

Our leaders need to resist taking the easy way out and instead start confronting the necessary tradeoffs to pay for new spending initiatives, rather than saddling the youngest generations with the hard choices we decided to avoid.

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