CBO: Bump in defense spending helped boost deficit

By Tony Bertuca / September 11, 2018 at 3:55 PM

The federal government spent $33 billion more on defense in the first 11 months of fiscal year 2018 than it did over the same period in FY-17, which helped contribute to an overall $222 billion increase to the deficit from August 2017 to August 2018, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The federal budget deficit was $895 billion for the first 11 months of FY-18, CBO states in a recent report.

"Revenues were 1 percent higher than in the same period in fiscal year 2017, but outlays rose by about 7 percent," CBO states.

The report, however, notes some of the $222 billion deficit increase can be attributed to shifts in the timing of certain payments that otherwise would have been due on a weekend or holiday. Excluding the timing shifts, the deficit for the 11-month period would have been $154 billion larger than in FY-17.

Total spending in August 2018 was $430 billion, or $96 billion more than August 2017, according to CBO. Spending for Defense Department military programs rose $5 billion, or 10 percent, over that period.

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