US Budget Deficit Crosses $1 Trillion Halfway Through Fiscal Year 2024

Social Security tops budget, but interest payments continue to grow.

The National Debt Clock in New York City on March 2, 2023. Lavinia Savu/The Epoch Times

The U.S. budget deficit topped $1 trillion in the first six months of fiscal 2024, putting the federal government on track to record its fifth consecutive trillion-dollar-plus shortfall.

According to the Treasury Department, the federal shortfall totaled $236 billion in March, down 38 percent from a deficit of $378 billion in March 2023.