$6,551,872,000,000: Federal Spending Smashes Record in FY20

(Photo by Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

(CNSNews.com) - The federal government set records for both the amount of money it spent and the deficit it ran in fiscal 2020, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released today.

The federal government spent a record $6,551,872,000,000 in fiscal 2020, which was an increase of $2,044,283,520,000—or 45.4 percent—from the previous record of $4,507,588,480,000 in constant September 2020 dollars that it spent last year.

While spending that record $6,551,872,000,000 in fiscal 2020, total federal tax collections actually declined from $3,509,701,320,000 (in constant September 2020 dollars) in fiscal 2019 to $3,419,955,000,000 in fiscal 2020.

The gap between the decreased total tax collections in fiscal 2020 and record federal spending resulted in a record federal deficit of $3,131,917,000,000.

That beat the previous record deficit of $1,707,875,920,000 (in constant September 2020 dollars) that the federal government accumulated in fiscal 2009.

The Department of Health and Human Services led all other federal departments and agencies in spending in fiscal 2020. Its total outlays hit $1,503,953,000,000 for the year. That equaled approximately $125,329,416,666 per month.

The Social Security Administration was second in spending among federal departments and agencies. It spent $1,153,914,000,000 during the fiscal year—or approximately $96,159,500,000 per month.

The Department of Defense and Military programs ranked third in spending for fiscal 2020. It spent $690,419,000,000 for the year.