The US Treasury Department last week released its monthly report on federal spending and revenue. March spending for the US federal government was up by more than $20 billion, or by nearly four percent, from March of last year. In spite of the administration’s claims last year that Trump would implement hundreds of billions in spending cuts, the US federal government is now spending at higher levels than anything seen since 2021 when covid-related spending surged above all previous historical peacetime levels. 

Meanwhile, the US is on track to spend more than a trillion dollars on interest on the debt this year, and this number will only go up as interest rates on federal Treasurys look poised to rise further. Moreover, recent numbers reflect only a small amount of the true war costs coming out of the war with Iran. The full brunt of the runaway spending that will come out of this war have yet to be felt. Indeed, the war with Iran, with no end in sight, is now estimated to be on track to cost more than a trillion dollars above and beyond the current $900 billion pentagon budget, going into 2027. If current trends continue, federal spending in 2027’s fiscal year will make 2026 spending look mild by comparison. 

Federal Spending in 2026 Fiscal Year 

According to the Treasury’s report, the US federal government spent $548 billion during March, an increase of $20.7 billion, or 3.9 percent over March of 2025. The total federal deficit for the month was up as well, with a total March deficit of $164.1 billion. That’s up from March 2025’s deficit of $160.5 billion. 

Looking at the first six months of the current fiscal year combined—a period which began on October 1, 2025—federal spending was up by $83.9 billion, or 2.3 percent. At $3.6 trillion for the fiscal year so far, that’s the highest level of spending ever, and is now even higher than spending during the days of juiced-up covid-panic outlays. Even when adjusted for inflation, 2026’s spending for the first six months of this fiscal year is at the highest level for every year except for 2021. In other words, the only other year with higher spending was the year when Trump ratcheted up spending toward the end of the 2020 calendar year—which was an election year. Trump continued to push historically high spending levels for the first four months of the 2021 fiscal year, until he finally left office at the end of January 2021.  

For the first six months of this fiscal year, the total deficit grew to the second-largest total since 2021, climbing to $1.17 trillion. Last year, the deficit for the first half of the year was $1.31 trillion. Adjusted for CPI inflation, the deficit during the first six months of this fiscal year came in behind 2021, 2023, and 2025. This year, however, as war expenses climb, and as Treasury........

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