The federal government ran a $460 billion budget deficit in the first four months of fiscal year 2023, adding $39 billion to the deficit in January, the Treasury Department confirmed Friday.
The government raised $1.47 trillion in tax revenues between October and January, which was 3% lower than the amount of revenue raised over the same period last year. Spending came in at $1.9 trillion, which was 9% higher than in the first four months of FY 2022, according to the Treasury's monthly statement.
January's deficit was smaller than December's $85 billion budget shortfall, which was itself lower than the $249 billion deficit posted in November.
The report comes as the Treasury has deployed "extraordinary measures" to avoid federal default after the government reached its $31.4 trillion borrowing limit in January. Congress has an early-June deadline to negotiate with President Biden to raise the debt limit so that the government can continue to pay its bills.
Republicans want commitments from Biden to reduce spending, while Democrats say the debt limit should not be used as leverage in spending negotiations. They have accused the GOP of wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare, which Republicans vigorously deny.
U.S. federal outlays were $486 billion in January, an increase of 4% from last year, reflecting Biden's $36 billion bailout of the Central States Pension Fund to protect the pension funds for more than 350,000 Teamsters union workers and retirees.
