The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), Washington, D.C.’s leading nonpartisan budget watchdog, has sharply criticized the recent government shutdown as “pointless and wasteful” while unveiling the staggering $1.8 trillion federal deficit for the fiscal year 2025. This fiscal gap, reported by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in its Monthly Budget Review, reflects ongoing concerns about the nation’s fiscal path amid political gridlock. The disclosure comes as President Donald Trump touts rapid economic growth and tariff-driven stimulus as the solution to America’s ballooning $37.8 trillion debt, with most economists warning that the tariffs are really functioning as a tax on the consumer or on capital.
According to CRFB President Maya MacGuineas, the government’s estimated borrowing for the fiscal year isn’t exactly growing, but that’s the cause for concern. “While the deficit didn’t rise from last year, it didn’t fall either, and we continue to borrow far too much. Our national debt is about the size of the entire U.S. economy and will exceed its highest ever record as a share of the economy—set just after World War II—in short order.” MacGuineas noted that the U.S. is on track to borrow nearly $2 trillion per year for the next decade. “How can anyone think this is sustainable?”
