Budgets, Taxing, Spending, and Priorities

The budget of the United States, hammered out every year, is a reflection on the policies and priorities of the nation. Just as the national economy has grown over the years, so too has the federal budget. At the end of World War II, the federal government spent just $34.5 billion ($472 billion in 2023 dollars); it was not until 1963 that the federal spending reached $100 billion ($1.1 trillion); twenty-four years later, in 1987, it reached $1 trillion ($2.7 trillion). By 2018, federal spending topped $4 trillion for the first time; it reached over $6 trillion ($6.3 trillion) during the first year of the Biden administration; and it reached will top $7 trillion ($7,028 trillion) in 2025.

Source: “The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2025 to 2035,” Congressional Budget Office, January 2025, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61172#_idTextAnchor004