“The U.S. budget deficit inched closer to $2 trillion after the first 11 months of fiscal year 2026, the Treasury Department reported on Sept. 11.” So begins an article by Andrew Moran, published today in The Epoch Times.
Overall, the fiscal year-to-date budget deficit totaled $1.97 trillion, almost $200 billion higher than the same 11-month span in the prior fiscal year.
Tax receipts were $360 billion last month, bringing this fiscal year’s total to nearly $4.9 trillion. This was slightly lower than the $5.2 trillion posted during the same 11-month span in fiscal year 2025.
Federal spending slowed to $527 billion, with Social Security being the top budgetary item ($141 billion). This was followed by net interest payments ($86 billion), healthcare ($81 billion), and national defense ($72 billion).
Debt-servicing payments overtook Medicare as the federal government’s second-largest fiscal year-to-date expenditure, exceeding $1 trillion in August.
Andrew Moran, “US Budget Deficit Nears $2 Trillion Amid Bond Market Jitters,” The Epoch Times (September 12, 2026).
The largest federal annual deficit in history was $3.1 trillion, recorded in the 2020 budget year. That was the first year of the Covid lockdowns and bailouts.