NY grand jury indicts former President Trump
(CNSNews.com)—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) falsely claimed on Tuesday that President Joe Biden has not increased the national debt.
At the U.S. Capitol, CNSNews.com asked Pelosi, “The federal government ran a $2.7-trillion deficit in fiscal 2021 and has a $475-billion deficit so far this year. Will President Biden ever balance the budget?”
Pelosi responded: “President Biden has been responsible for reducing the national debt by a trillion dollars. That is a record that no other president can claim to make. Everything that we have done under his leadership has been paid for. He has not increased the national debt.”
The official numbers for the federal debt are posted daily on the U.S. Treasury's "Debt to the Penny" website. According to the numbers posted by the Treasury, the debt was $27,751,896,236,414.77 at the close of business on Jan. 20, 2021, which was the day President Biden was inaugurated. At the close of business on March 14, 2022, the latest day for which the numbers are available, the debt was $30,192,743,136,499.51.
That means that since Biden was inaugurated president, the federal debt has increased by $2,440,846,900,084.74.
In fiscal 2021, which ran through September 2021, the federal government spent $6,818,158,000,000, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement. At the same time, it brought in $4,045,979,000,000 in revenue--thus, running a $2,772,179,000,000 deficit. Biden, who was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2021, served for the last 9 full months of fiscal 2021.
In the first five months of fiscal 2022 (October through February), the federal government has spent $2,282,422,000,000, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement. At the same time, it has brought in $1,806,838,000,000 in revenue--thus, running a $475,584,000,000 deficit. Biden was president for all of the first five months of fiscal 2022.
Pelosi may have been speaking of the annual federal deficit as if it were the federal debt—however, even the federal deficit did not drop by anywhere near a trillion dollars under Biden.
In fiscal 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government collected $3,419,955,000,000 in tax revenue, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement, and spent $6,551,872,000,000. That resulted in an annual deficit of $3,131,917,000,000.
The $2,772,179,000,000 federal deficit in fiscal 2021 (which saw President Biden take office in its fourth month), was $359,738,000,000 less than the $3,131,917,000,000 deficit for fiscal 2020.
It was not “a trillion dollars” less.
This table from the Monthly Treasury Statement for February shows the taxes, spending and deficit numbers for all twelve months of fiscal 2021 and the first five months of fiscal 2022:
