Imagine a government that spent over six trillion dollars last year, a number so vast it means every American, from newborns to centenarians, effectively had $18,450 of federal money spent on their behalf.
Key Takeaways
- In fiscal year 2023, U.S. federal government total outlays reached $6.134 trillion, a 7.5% increase from FY 2022.
- Mandatory spending accounted for $4.024 trillion or 65.6% of total federal outlays in FY 2023.
- Discretionary spending totaled $1.684 trillion in FY 2023, comprising 27.4% of the federal budget.
- In FY 2023, Department of Defense budget was $816.7 billion, 13.3% of total outlays.
- U.S. military personnel compensation costs reached $182 billion in FY 2023.
- Overseas contingency operations funding was $59 billion in FY 2023.
- Medicare spending reached $839 billion in FY 2023, 13.7% of total outlays.
- Social Security outlays were $1.347 trillion in FY 2023 for 66 million beneficiaries.
- Medicaid expenditures totaled $616 billion federally in FY 2023.
- Public K-12 education federal funding was $82 billion in FY 2023, 8% of total.
- Pell Grants awarded $28 billion to 6.5 million students in FY 2023.
- Student loan interest subsidies cost $40 billion in FY 2023.
- Net interest on public debt was $659 billion in FY 2023, up 34% from FY 2022.
- Publicly held federal debt reached $26.3 trillion or 98% of GDP in FY 2023.
- Federal deficit was $1.695 trillion or 6.3% of GDP in FY 2023.
Federal spending reaches historic levels with debt interest payments rapidly rising.
Debt Interest and Deficits
- Net interest on public debt was $659 billion in FY 2023, up 34% from FY 2022.
- Publicly held federal debt reached $26.3 trillion or 98% of GDP in FY 2023.
- Federal deficit was $1.695 trillion or 6.3% of GDP in FY 2023.
- Interest costs projected to hit $1 trillion annually by FY 2026 per CBO.
- Debt held by Federal Reserve was $5.3 trillion as of end-2023.
- Intragovernmental debt totaled $7.0 trillion in FY 2023, mainly Social Security trust.
- Average interest rate on marketable debt was 2.5% in FY 2023.
- Cumulative deficits since 2001 total $20 trillion through FY 2023.
- State government debt outstanding was $1.2 trillion in FY 2022.
- Local government debt service payments $90 billion annually average.
- Unfunded liabilities for Social Security estimated $22 trillion present value.
- Medicare Part A trust fund shortfall projected $400 billion by 2031.
- Federal debt ceiling raised 78 times since 1960, last in 2023.
- Gross federal debt hit $33.2 trillion or 123% GDP end-FY 2023.
- Interest payments consumed 14% of federal revenues in FY 2023.
- Primary deficit excluding interest was $1.036 trillion in FY 2023.
- Household federal tax burden covered 78% of spending in FY 2023.
- CBO projects debt-to-GDP at 166% by 2053 under current law.
- Treasury borrowing via T-bills was $23 trillion gross in FY 2023.
- Foreign holders of U.S. debt $8.0 trillion, 24% of public debt in 2023.
- Mutual funds held $5.1 trillion in Treasuries end-2023.
- Pension funds owned $1.2 trillion federal debt in FY 2023.
Debt Interest and Deficits Interpretation
We've written ourselves a terrifying financial ghost story, yet we keep reading it by candlelight, somehow still not remotely scared enough.
Defense Spending
- In FY 2023, Department of Defense budget was $816.7 billion, 13.3% of total outlays.
- U.S. military personnel compensation costs reached $182 billion in FY 2023.
- Overseas contingency operations funding was $59 billion in FY 2023.
- Defense procurement spending totaled $153 billion for weapons systems in FY 2023.
- U.S. nuclear forces modernization costs projected at $634 billion over 10 years to 2030.
- F-35 program lifetime cost estimated at $1.7 trillion through 2070.
- Defense R&D spending was $143 billion in FY 2023, highest among agencies.
- U.S. spent $877 billion on defense in FY 2022, 3.5% of GDP.
- Operation and maintenance budget for DoD was $295 billion in FY 2023.
- Military construction spending was $15.4 billion in FY 2023.
- U.S. foreign military aid totaled $12.5 billion in FY 2023, mostly to Ukraine and Israel.
- Defense health program budget was $38.2 billion in FY 2023.
- Missile defense spending reached $10.8 billion in FY 2023.
- U.S. Navy shipbuilding costs averaged $4.5 billion per destroyer in FY 2023 contracts.
- Air Force procurement for 85 F-35s cost $11.8 billion in FY 2023.
- DoD cybersecurity budget was $13.5 billion in FY 2023.
- Veterans Affairs medical care spending was $116 billion in FY 2023.
- U.S. intelligence community budget topline was $71.7 billion in FY 2023.
- Space Force budget request was $30 billion for FY 2024.
- Defense logistics and supply chain costs were $70 billion in FY 2023.
- U.S. Army personnel strength costs $150 billion for 450,000 active duty in 2023.
- National Guard and Reserves funding was $60 billion in FY 2023.
- Defense contracts awarded to top 5 contractors totaled $150 billion in FY 2023.
- U.S. spent 3.4% of GDP on defense in 2022, highest among NATO allies.
- DoD fuel costs were $12 billion for 4.5 billion gallons in FY 2023.
Defense Spending Interpretation
America is spending at a galactic scale—where trillion-dollar fighter jets meet billion-dollar destroyers—to ensure its earthly safety, proving that peace, like everything else, has a stunningly expensive price tag.
Education and Infrastructure
- Public K-12 education federal funding was $82 billion in FY 2023, 8% of total.
- Pell Grants awarded $28 billion to 6.5 million students in FY 2023.
- Student loan interest subsidies cost $40 billion in FY 2023.
- Head Start program spending was $11.4 billion for 800,000 children in FY 2023.
- Federal highway spending under IIJA was $52 billion annually average 2022-2026.
- FAA airport infrastructure grants totaled $4 billion in FY 2023.
- Amtrak subsidies were $2.4 billion in FY 2023.
- FHA mortgage insurance guarantees backed $300 billion in loans in FY 2023.
- HUD rental assistance via Section 8 cost $28 billion in FY 2023.
- Rural utilities subsidies totaled $1.5 billion in FY 2023.
- Army Corps of Engineers civil works budget $8.5 billion for flood control in FY 2023.
- NASA budget was $25.4 billion in FY 2023 for space exploration.
- National Science Foundation grants $9.5 billion in FY 2023.
- Bureau of Indian Education funding $1 billion for tribal schools FY 2023.
- Federal aid for special education (IDEA) was $14.2 billion in FY 2023.
- Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act spending $3.5 billion FY 2023.
- TSA aviation security budget $9.1 billion in FY 2023.
- FEMA disaster relief spending $40 billion in FY 2023 for wildfires/hurricanes.
- Bureau of Reclamation water projects $1.2 billion FY 2023.
- DOT transit formula grants $14 billion to local systems FY 2023.
Education and Infrastructure Interpretation
The federal budget paints a portrait of a nation constantly investing in its own ladder, from the first rung of Head Start to the launchpad at NASA, while also bracing for the moments we inevitably slip, like when nature sends the bill via FEMA.
Healthcare and Social Security
- Medicare spending reached $839 billion in FY 2023, 13.7% of total outlays.
- Social Security outlays were $1.347 trillion in FY 2023 for 66 million beneficiaries.
- Medicaid expenditures totaled $616 billion federally in FY 2023.
- Medicare Advantage plans received $361 billion in payments in 2023.
- Federal spending on CHIP was $17.5 billion in FY 2023.
- Veterans health benefits cost $112 billion in FY 2023 for 9 million enrollees.
- TRICARE spending for military families was $35 billion in FY 2023.
- NIH research grants totaled $37 billion in FY 2023.
- CDC budget was $9.2 billion in FY 2023, including vaccines for children.
- SNAP (food stamps) benefits cost $113 billion in FY 2023 for 41 million recipients.
- Unemployment insurance payments were $32 billion in FY 2023.
- SSI payments totaled $65 billion in FY 2023 for 7.5 million disabled/elderly.
- Earned Income Tax Credit refunds cost $73 billion in FY 2023.
- Child Tax Credit payments were $105 billion in FY 2022 expansion year.
- Federal employee health benefits program cost $60 billion in FY 2023.
- Indian Health Service spending was $6.8 billion in FY 2023.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration budget $7.5 billion FY 2023.
- HRSA health centers received $6 billion for underserved areas in FY 2023.
- ACA marketplace subsidies cost $70 billion in FY 2023.
- Long-term care Medicaid spending was $200 billion in FY 2023.
Healthcare and Social Security Interpretation
These statistics reveal that America's social safety net, from cradle to grave, is essentially a series of very expensive, very necessary promises we've made to each other to not let our neighbors collapse.
Overall Budget
- In fiscal year 2023, U.S. federal government total outlays reached $6.134 trillion, a 7.5% increase from FY 2022.
- Mandatory spending accounted for $4.024 trillion or 65.6% of total federal outlays in FY 2023.
- Discretionary spending totaled $1.684 trillion in FY 2023, comprising 27.4% of the federal budget.
- Net interest payments on the debt surged to $659 billion in FY 2023, 10.7% of total outlays.
- Federal spending per capita was $18,450 in FY 2023 based on U.S. population of 333 million.
- In FY 2022, total federal obligations were $6.85 trillion across all agencies.
- Grants to states and localities amounted to $1.2 trillion in FY 2023, up 11% from prior year.
- Federal spending as a percentage of GDP was 23.6% in FY 2023.
- Outlays for income security programs totaled $1.15 trillion in FY 2023.
- In 2022, U.S. government spending grew by 8.8% nominally compared to 2021.
- Total federal budget authority for FY 2024 was appropriated at $7.0 trillion.
- Emergency supplemental spending post-COVID reached $4.6 trillion from 2020-2023.
- Federal procurement spending hit $703 billion in FY 2023.
- In FY 2021, total outlays were $6.822 trillion, 31.2% of GDP.
- Social insurance spending (Social Security, Medicare) was 45% of budget in FY 2023.
- Federal employee compensation costs were $285 billion in FY 2023.
- Capital investment spending by federal government was $450 billion in FY 2023.
- In 2023, U.S. state and local government spending totaled $3.2 trillion.
- Federal R&D funding was $201 billion in FY 2023.
- Direct payments to individuals excluding Social Security were $780 billion in FY 2023.
- FY 2024 projected outlays are $6.75 trillion per CBO baseline.
- Historical peak spending-to-GDP was 41.3% in 1945 during WWII.
- In FY 2020, pandemic-related spending added $2.2 trillion to outlays.
- Federal subsidies to businesses totaled $150 billion in FY 2023.
- Total federal loans outstanding were $1.4 trillion in 2023.
- State government spending per capita averaged $10,200 in FY 2022.
- Local government spending focused 35% on education in 2022.
- U.S. federal spending on veterans benefits was $301 billion in FY 2023.
- Total government spending (federal+state+local) was 38% of GDP in 2022.
- FY 2023 supplemental appropriations added $100 billion beyond baseline.
Overall Budget Interpretation
America's annual bill for 2023 reveals a government whose biggest expense is essentially autopilot, with nearly two-thirds of the budget locked into promises past, while the alarming cost of financing our growing debt now consumes more than a dime of every dollar spent, leaving lawmakers with surprisingly little room to maneuver on the remaining quarter for everything else.
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