America’s federal budget deficit effectively doubled in the 2023 fiscal year as slumping tax receipts, rising interest rates and persistent demand for expiring pandemic relief benefits strained the nation’s finances.
On Friday, Mr. Biden’s administration formally asked Congress to approve more than $100 billion in emergency spending that includes military aid to Ukraine and Israel, humanitarian assistance in those countries and in Gaza, and a range of new efforts to improve America’s border security.
For example, the Internal Revenue Service has been funneling out billions of dollars in tax refunds related to the Employee Retention Credit, a pandemic-era benefit that was recently paused because of concerns about fraud.
“The increase in the deficit last year was largely caused by a sharp fall in tax revenues, while spending on programs other than Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid actually fell slightly as a share of the economy,” said Lael Brainard, who heads Mr. Biden’s National Economic Council.
Some administration officials concede the president may need to propose even more expansive deficit reduction — almost certainly in the form of more tax increases on high earners and corporations — in the future if interest costs do not recede.
“It’s the mandatory spending and the entitlement programs that are really driving the debt, and that if we don’t address them we’ll truly bankrupt this country,” Representative Jodey C. Arrington of Texas, the Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee, said this week.
The original article contains 1,524 words, the summary contains 238 words. Saved 84%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
America’s federal budget deficit effectively doubled in the 2023 fiscal year as slumping tax receipts, rising interest rates and persistent demand for expiring pandemic relief benefits strained the nation’s finances.
On Friday, Mr. Biden’s administration formally asked Congress to approve more than $100 billion in emergency spending that includes military aid to Ukraine and Israel, humanitarian assistance in those countries and in Gaza, and a range of new efforts to improve America’s border security.
For example, the Internal Revenue Service has been funneling out billions of dollars in tax refunds related to the Employee Retention Credit, a pandemic-era benefit that was recently paused because of concerns about fraud.
“The increase in the deficit last year was largely caused by a sharp fall in tax revenues, while spending on programs other than Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid actually fell slightly as a share of the economy,” said Lael Brainard, who heads Mr. Biden’s National Economic Council.
Some administration officials concede the president may need to propose even more expansive deficit reduction — almost certainly in the form of more tax increases on high earners and corporations — in the future if interest costs do not recede.
“It’s the mandatory spending and the entitlement programs that are really driving the debt, and that if we don’t address them we’ll truly bankrupt this country,” Representative Jodey C. Arrington of Texas, the Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee, said this week.
The original article contains 1,524 words, the summary contains 238 words. Saved 84%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!