In 2024, the U.S. deficit is projected to exceed $1.8 trillion, with interest on the debt reaching beyond a trillion dollars.

• In fiscal 2024, the Biden administration's budget exceeded $1.8 trillion, representing an increase of over 8% from the previous year and the third-highest budget on record.
• For the first time, the interest expense for the year exceeded one trillion dollars, totaling $1.16 trillion.

In fiscal 2024, the Biden administration's budget deficit exceeded $1.8 trillion, marking an 8% increase from the previous year and the third-highest on record, according to the Treasury Department.

Despite a modest surplus in September, the U.S. still faced a $1.833 trillion deficit, $138 billion higher than the previous year. The only years the U.S. has experienced a significant deficit were 2020 and 2021, when the government spent trillions on pandemic-related expenses.

Despite record receipts of $4.9 trillion, the deficit exceeded outlays of $6.75 trillion.

The national debt has grown by $2.3 trillion to reach a total of $35.7 trillion as of the end of fiscal 2023.

High interest rates from the Federal Reserve's inflation-fighting hikes have been a frustrating factor contributing to the debt and deficit situation.

The government's interest expense reached a record $1.16 trillion for the year, surpassing the trillion-dollar mark for the first time. After factoring in interest earned on investments, the total expenditure was $882 billion, the third-largest budget item, exceeding all other expenses except for Social Security and healthcare.

According to a Treasury official, the average interest rate on all government debt for 2024 was 3.32%, an increase from 2.97% the previous year.

In September, the government recorded a surplus of $64.3 billion due to calendar effects that shifted benefit payments to August, resulting in a $380 billion deficit, the largest monthly deficit of the year.

The deficit is currently above 6% of the U.S. economy, which is higher than the historical average of 3.7% during expansions over the past 50 years, as stated by the Congressional Budget Office.

The CBO predicts that deficits will increase to $2.8 trillion by 2034, while the debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to rise from 100% to 122% on the debt side.