President Joe Biden has repeatedly declared that he and Vice President Kamala Harris have reduced the government’s budget deficit.
But this claim simply is not true.
In less than four years, federal spending has increased above projections by the equivalent of $36,100 per household, tax revenues increased by $17,100 per household, and debt increased by $29,700 per household.
In the Economic Policy Innovation Center’s new report, we evaluate the Biden-Harris fiscal record using the U.S. Treasury Department’s data through fiscal 2024, which recently concluded on Sept. 30, and compare it to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s baseline projections from February 2021 under the laws that were in effect just prior to the inauguration of Biden and Harris.
Federal spending skyrocketed by $4.7 trillion higher than projected, a staggering 22% above the CBO’s pre-Biden-Harris estimate. While tax revenues rose by $2.2 trillion above projections, 14%, they failed to match the spending spree. Consequently, the national debt has swollen to $35.5 trillion, $3.9 trillion more than the pre-Biden-Harris baseline.
The Biden-Harris spending binge was driven by repeated, deliberate decisions to grow spending, as well as autopilot increases in programs that are sensitive to inflation, which was caused by the irresponsible policies of the administration.
A key goal of Biden-Kamala-nomics is to expand the size and scope of the federal government, all at the expense of the taxpayers.
The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act was followed by the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, infrastructure spending, aid to Ukraine, enlarged veterans’ benefits, and other initiatives that added trillions in new spending.
The Biden-Harris administration also abused the regulatory process to expand government. The House Budget Committee reports that the administration has proposed and implemented executive actions with costs exceeding $2 trillion, including the transfer of student loan debt from borrowers to taxpayers, unilaterally increasing food stamp benefit payments, and weakening Medicaid eligibility rules.