Tag Archives: federal budget deficits

Saving American Taxpayer Money

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On Friday, The Hill posted an article about about President Trump using the “pocket rescission” process to cancel almost $1 billion in federal funding. In the grand scheme of things $1 billion isn’t a great amount, but with the deficit being what it is, every little bit counts.

Here are some numbers that illustrate the history of the federal budget. In 2007, the federal budget for the United States was approximately $2.729 trillion. That is $4.41 trillion in today’s dollars. That reflects a cumulative inflation rate of about 61.95% since 2007. The current federal budget for the fiscal year 2025 is projected to be approximately $7 trillion with a deficit of $1.8 trillion, which was 5.8% of the GDP. That is not great, but it is moving in the right direction. The Republicans took control of Congress in 2024. Today’s high budget numbers are not solely due to inflation, they are due to runaway spending. In 2019, the federal budget was $4.4 trillion, with a deficit of about $984 billion, which represented 4.6% of the GDP. In 2020, the federal budget was $6.55 trillion, with a deficit of $3.1 trillion, which represented 14.9% of the GDP. In 2021, the federal budget was $6.8 trillion, with a deficit of $2.8 trillion, representing about 12.4% of the GDP. Theoretically, the House of Representatives controls spending. The Democrats controlled the House during the significant jump in spending in 2020 and deficit jumping to $3.1 trillion. If you want to stop runaway spending, don’t elect Democrats to the House of Representatives.

The article at The Hill reports:

President Trump cancelled almost $1 billion in federal funding Friday using the controversial “pocket rescission” process, which allows him to sidestep congressional approval.

Most of the cancellations targeted Health and Human Services (HHS) programs serving undocumented immigrants and unaccompanied children in court, as well as similar initiatives under the agency’s Minority Health office and the Department of Education’s Special Programs for Migrant Students.

“These funds previously went to pro-illegal immigration programs and Non-Governmental Organizations that provided services to refugees, asylees, and other non-citizens and put unaccompanied children in harm’s way,” the White House wrote in a press release. 

The release continued, “Thanks to President Trump’s successful border policies, the illegal alien invasion is over and there are fewer people crossing our border than ever before.”

The White House went on to say the decrease in border crossings meant funding toward these programs became excessive, warranting their recission.

In Washington money equals power, so several Congressmen are not happy about the cuts. However, as a taxpayer, I am grateful that someone is taking action to trim the very bloated federal budget.

Trumpenomics Is Working

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On Wednesday, The Daily Signal reported:

The U.S. government posted a $95 billion budget deficit in January, down $34 billion, or 26%, from a year earlier as revenue gains, including customs duties, outpaced growth in outlays, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

Adjusting for routine calendar shifts in benefit payments due to holidays, weekends, and other factors in both years, the Treasury said the January deficit would have been $30 billion, a decline of $52 billion, or 63%, from January 2025.

January receipts totaled $560 billion, up $47 billion, or 9%, from a year earlier, while outlays totaled $655 billion, up $13 billion, or 2%.

A $95 billion deficit is not a good thing; however, it is better than it was a year ago. If America is going to survive as a country, we need to elect people who will give us budget surpluses–not budget deficits.

The article concludes:

Helping to drive both January and year-to-date results were sharply higher net customs receipts due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs. These totaled $27.7 billion in January, about the same level as December and slightly below the $30 billion monthly pace late last year. Customs duties in January 2025, the month that Trump took office and well before his tariff announcements, totaled $7.3 billion.

Fiscal year-to-date net customs duties were $117.7 billion, up from $28.2 billion a year earlier.

Also, cutting the deficit was a rare $12 billion decline in Treasury interest outlays on the public debt to $72 billion for January. The Treasury official said this stemmed from downward adjustments to payments on inflation-linked securities that were delayed by last year’s government shutdown and publication of consumer price index data.

Year-to-date Treasury debt interest totaled $426 billion, a record for the period, up $34 billion, or 9%.

The tariff income is a wonderful thing. My fear is that as fast as it comes in, Congress will find a way to spend it.