Budget & Spending
Budget & Spending is a data page on the Macro desk of Glassbox Auditing. What the federal government collects and spends, and where the money goes.
Last updated: .
What is on this page today?
- The Treasury paid out $904B from 1 Oct to 5 Nov, 16.3% more than over the same days a year earlier — $778B over 1 Oct 2025 to 5 Nov 2025 · 25 reporting days against 25 · Daily Treasury Statement withdrawals less public debt redemptions (U.S. Treasury (Bureau of the Fiscal Service) (Daily Treasury Statement), 4 Nov 2026)
- Federal spending: $7.40T this fiscal year through September 2026, +5.5% on last year — $7.01T by the same point last year (U.S. Treasury (Monthly Treasury Statement), 29 Sep 2026)
- Federal receipts: $5.40T this fiscal year through September 2026, +3.2% on last year — Spending ran $1.99T ahead of receipts (U.S. Treasury (Monthly Treasury Statement), 29 Sep 2026)
- Mandatory programs took 60% of federal spending in the fiscal year through September 2026, discretionary 26% and net interest 14% — Mandatory 59.9%, discretionary 26.2%, net interest 13.8% a year earlier · net interest +8.4% on last year · the mandatory and discretionary split is estimated for each budget line (U.S. Treasury (Monthly Treasury Statement), 29 Sep 2026)
- Individual income taxes brought in 53% of federal receipts in the fiscal year through September 2026, payroll taxes 34% — Individual income taxes 50.7% of receipts a year earlier · total receipts $5.40 trillion, +3.2% on last year (U.S. Treasury (Monthly Treasury Statement), 29 Sep 2026)
- Veterans Benefits and Services: $416B so far this fiscal year, +10.4% on last year — The biggest move among the eight largest spending lines (U.S. Treasury (Monthly Treasury Statement), 29 Sep 2026)
- Mandatory benefits took 62% of federal spending in 2026 Q3, against 49% 50 years earlier and 27% in 1929 — Interest on the debt 16.8% of spending, 4.0% of GDP (higher than 77% of the years since 1929) · total federal spending 24.0% of GDP against a century average of 19.2% · the latest quarter at an annual rate (BEA, 29 Sep 2026)
Where does the data come from?
Items on this page come from U.S. Treasury (Bureau of the Fiscal Service) (Daily Treasury Statement); U.S. Treasury (Monthly Treasury Statement); BEA. Each item links to its own source. All sources, how items are checked.
What does this page lead to?
- Debt & Interest (Macro): Each year's gap between spending and receipts is borrowed, so a wider deficit adds directly to the debt and to future interest costs. (moves the same way; same fiscal year; economy scale) Source: U.S. Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement.
- Federal Contractors (People & Money): Discretionary spending, defense above all, is paid out largely through contracts, so higher appropriations tend to raise awards to the largest federal contractors. (moves the same way; months to a year; company scale) Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury): federal contracts, grants and loans by recipient.
- Household Finances (Macro): Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other benefits are a large part of household income, so changes in those outlays reach household incomes and spending directly. (moves the same way; monthly; economy scale) Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (NIPA).
- Well-being (Domestic Intelligence): Medicaid is the largest federal grant to the states, so federal health spending shapes state budgets and how many residents have health insurance. (moves the same way; 1-2 years; economy scale) Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances.
- Companies & Research (Education): NIH and NSF grants are a major source of university and lab research money, so budget increases or cuts reach campuses and research contractors within a grant cycle. (moves the same way; a grant cycle; sector scale) Source: NIH RePORTER (research grants by organisation).
- Prices & Inflation (Macro): Large deficits add to demand; when the economy is near full employment that tends to push prices up, while spending cuts or tax rises work the other way. (moves the same way; 6-18 months; economy scale) Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (NIPA).
What feeds this page?
- Insurance Coverage (Domestic Intelligence): The NFIP borrows from the Treasury when a catastrophe's claims exceed its reserves, and Congress cancelled $16 billion of that debt in 2017, so a claims spike can become a federal cost. (moves the same way; months to years; economy scale) Source: FEMA OpenFEMA, NFIP Redacted Claims v3 (flood insurance claims since 1978).
- Election Outlook (Domestic Intelligence): Control of the House, Senate and White House decides which tax and spending bills can pass, so the odds of one party holding all three are odds on the fiscal path. (either way, depending on the cause; after the election; economy scale) Source: Wikipedia election pages: races, forecasters' ratings, polls (CC BY-SA).
- Religious Organizations (Domestic Intelligence): Religious groups receive the largest share of U.S. charitable giving; those gifts are deductible and the groups pay no federal income tax, part of the charitable tax expenditure. (moves the other way; tax year; economy scale) Source: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File (registered churches and religious organizations).
- Universities (Education): The 2025 tax law raised the excise tax on the largest endowments' investment income to as much as 8%, so endowment returns now add more to federal revenue. (moves the same way; yearly; economy scale) Source: IPEDS institution surveys via the Urban Institute (ODC-By).
- Web Tracking (Feed): The government indices (searches on taxes, benefits and federal debt) are checked here against the Treasury's daily and monthly statements of what it collects and spends. (moves the same way; weeks; economy scale) Source: U.S. Treasury, Daily Treasury Statement (TGA).
- Military & Airspace (Global Intelligence): Defense is the largest part of discretionary federal spending; operations abroad and aid packages add to it through supplemental appropriations. (moves the same way; months; economy scale) Source: U.S. Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement.
- Migration & Economy (Immigration): CBO counts immigrants' taxes and benefit costs; its 2024 estimate found the 2022-2024 surge would lower federal deficits over ten years, mainly through added tax revenue. (either way, depending on the cause; years; economy scale) Source: Congressional Budget Office (budget categories).
- Border (Immigration): Higher encounter numbers raise federal spending on border enforcement, detention and immigration courts; the 2025 budget law added large sums for enforcement and detention. (moves the same way; months to a year; economy scale) Source: Congressional Budget Office (budget categories).
- Household Finances (Macro): Personal income is the base for individual income taxes, the largest source of federal receipts, so faster income growth tends to raise collections. (moves the same way; within the tax year; economy scale) Source: U.S. Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement.
- Debt & Interest (Macro): Net interest is now one of the largest federal outlays, so each rise in the average rate on the debt adds to total spending and the deficit without any new program. (moves the same way; months; economy scale) Source: U.S. Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement.
- Tariffs & Government (Macro): Customs duties are federal receipts, so higher tariff rates raise collections as long as import volumes do not fall by more. (moves the same way; monthly; economy scale) Source: U.S. Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement.
- SPY History (Markets): A strong stock year raises realized capital gains, which lift individual income tax receipts in the following April's Monthly Treasury Statement; a weak year lowers them. (moves the same way; next April; economy scale) Source: U.S. Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement.
- Government (People & Money): Congress writes the tax and spending laws and the president signs or vetoes them, so a change in which party holds the House, Senate or White House changes which budgets can pass. (either way, depending on the cause; 1-2 years; economy scale) Source: Congress.gov API (bills, actions, committee meetings).
- Federal Contractors (People & Money): Contract obligations are a large part of federal spending; they move with appropriations and turn into the outlays on Budget & Spending as the work is paid for. (moves the same way; months (obligations come first); economy scale) Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury): federal contracts, grants and loans by recipient.
- Charity & Political Links (People & Money): Gifts to charities and foundations are deductible, so large giving lowers donors' income taxes; the charitable deduction is one of the larger tax expenditures in the federal budget. (moves the other way; tax year; economy scale) Source: Congressional Budget Office (budget categories).
- Taxes (Personal Finance): Bracket thresholds and deductions set how much household income reaches the Treasury as individual income tax, the largest single source of the federal receipts on the budget page. (moves the same way; each filing season; economy scale) Source: IRS annual inflation adjustments (Rev. Proc. 2024-40 for 2025, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 for 2026).
- Flights (Travel): Each domestic ticket carries the 7.5% federal ticket tax and per-segment fees, which fund the FAA's Airport and Airway Trust Fund, so more flying raises those federal receipts. (moves the same way; months; economy scale) Source: U.S. Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement.
- United Nations (World Powers): The U.S. pays the largest assessed share of the UN's regular and peacekeeping budgets, through State Department appropriations that sit in federal spending. (moves the same way; yearly; economy scale) Source: Congressional Budget Office (budget categories).