New projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show the federal deficit rising this year for the first time since 2009 and the government sinking deeper into debt over the next decade.
“Budget projections have turned a corner again, and this time it’s for the worse,” said Robert L. Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition. He said the CBO numbers “clearly demonstrate that recent legislation combined with the relentless fiscal pressures of an aging population add up to steadily rising debt from this point forward.”
New projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show the federal deficit rising this year for the first time since 2009 and the government sinking deeper into debt over the next decade.
“Budget projections have turned a corner again, and this time it’s for the worse,” said Robert L. Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition. He said the CBO numbers “clearly demonstrate that recent legislation combined with the relentless fiscal pressures of an aging population add up to steadily rising debt from this point forward.”
He added: “Each of the presidential candidates should explain to voters how they would work to reverse this dynamic or admit that they support the ‘Do Nothing’ plan.”
The CBO released a summary Tuesday of its annual Budget and Economic Outlook, projecting that under current law federal deficits — which have dropped in recent years — will begin rising again this year to $544 billion and could reach $1.4 trillion by 2026.
The deficits projected over the next decade would add a total of $9.4 trillion to the nation’s debt. The projections take into account tax and spending legislation that Congress approved just last month that will boost deficits in the years ahead by hundreds of billions of dollars.
The budget office warns that federal debt held by the public will climb from about 76 percent of GDP at the end of this year — the highest since World War II — to 86 percent at the end of 2026.
Voters should expect political candidates this year “to clearly explain how they would pay for their proposals while reining in the federal debt,” Bixby said. “So far many of the presidential candidates have fallen short.”
