federal budget

The U.S. has already surpassed its 2025 budget deficit with about a month and a half left to go in its fiscal year. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the government is on track to borrow more than $2 trillion in fiscal year 2026.

The share of U.S. debt held by foreign countries has been shrinking.

But not enough to balance the budget.

The Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE, is a task force Trump has appointed, headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. It has some lofty resolutions for its stated goal of cutting wasteful government spending.

The options on the table: cut spending, default on the national debt, raise the ceiling — or eliminate it altogether.

The U.S. Forest Service is likely facing half a billion dollars in budget cuts from Congress. This means the federal agency will have less money and staff for maintaining public lands. In western Wyoming, a nonprofit is helping fill the gaps.

The newly formed “Budget Lab” at Yale plans to focus on the long-term outcomes of proposed legislation.

A long, drawn out budget cycle marked by stopgap spending and the threat of a shutdown takes a toll, says Justin Barrett, treasurer of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. 

“The Fiscal Ship” game demonstrates public policy trade-offs that go into government budgeting.

It’s like comparing apples and oranges, professor Golnaz Motie says, because the government has many more tools and huge immediate obligations.