Budget Deficit
The federal budget deficit — accumulated when the government spends more than it receives in revenues — has ballooned from $15 trillion at the end of the Obama administration to over $25 trillion during Trump’s first three years in the White House. Soaring deficit levels come as a natural consequence of the 2017 tax cuts: researchers at the Tax Policy Center found that corporate tax revenue declined by 40% between 2017 and 2018, while income taxes paid to the federal government declined by 5.4%. With less tax money coming in but similar levels of spending going out, it’s no wonder the federal deficit has increased.