# Federal Budget FY2023 The fiscal year **Oct 1, 2022 – Sep 30, 2023**, under the Biden administration. Final actuals. **Headline:** outlays **$6.14 trillion**, revenues **$4.44 trillion**, deficit **$1.69 trillion** (6.2% of GDP). The story of FY2023 is the **revenue drop** — receipts fell ~$456B from FY2022's pandemic-inflated peak (lower capital-gains realizations, the expiry of pandemic supports) even as outlays barely declined, so the deficit jumped from $1.38T to $1.69T. Debt held by the public ended at **$26.33 trillion**. This was also the year of the [[Debt Ceiling]] standoff resolved by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of June 2023. ## Headline totals | Metric | FY2023 | vs FY2022 | |---|--:|--:| | Total outlays | $6,135B | −2.2% | | Total revenues | $4,441B | −9.3% | | Deficit | −$1,694B | from −$1,376B | | Deficit % of GDP | −6.2% | from −5.4% | | Debt held by public (EOY) | $26,330B | +$2,030B | | Gross federal debt (EOY) | $33,170B | +$2,240B | A reported-deficit quirk: the headline FY2023 deficit was inflated, and FY2022's deflated, by the timing of the administration's student-loan forgiveness booking (recorded in FY2022, then reversed after the Supreme Court struck it down). On a clean basis the underlying FY2023 deterioration was even sharper. ## Outlays by budget function (cash basis) $ billions, from the Treasury Combined Statement (FY2022 comparative shown for context). See [[Budget Functions]]. | Function | FY2023 | FY2022 | |---|--:|--:| | 650 [[Social Security]] | 1,354.3 | 1,218.7 | | 550 Health ([[Medicaid]], ACA, CHIP) | 889.3 | 914.5 | | 570 [[Medicare]] | 847.5 | 755.1 | | 050 National Defense | 820.7 | 766.7 | | 600 [[Income Security]] | 774.2 | 865.9 | | 900 [[Net Interest on the Debt]] | 659.2 | 475.1 | | 700 [[Veterans Benefits]] | 301.6 | 274.4 | | 400 Transportation | 127.0 | 131.6 | | 450 Community & Regional Development | 88.9 | 72.1 | | 750 [[Administration of Justice]] | 81.2 | 72.1 | | 150 [[International Affairs]] | 69.3 | 71.7 | | 300 Natural Resources & Environment | 45.9 | 39.6 | | 250 General Science, Space & Technology | 41.4 | 37.5 | | 350 Agriculture | 34.9 | 37.3 | | 800 General Government | 33.6 | 33.6 | | 270 Energy | −0.3 | −9.1 | | 500 Education, Training, Employment & Social Services | −3.1 | 676.6 | | 370 Commerce & Housing Credit | −19.5 | 119.8 | | 950 Undistributed Offsetting Receipts | −131.9 | −235.0 | | **Total** | **6,134.5** | **6,271.6** | The two negative outlay lines tell the story of the year: **Education** swung from +$676.6B to −$3.1B because the FY2022 booking of the student-loan forgiveness program was reversed in FY2023 after *Biden v. Nebraska* struck it down — neither figure is real program spending. **Net interest** jumped +38.7% (+$184B) on Fed rate hikes — the first leg of the climb that would carry it past defense by FY2025. ## Outlays by agency (cash basis) $ billions, from the Treasury Monthly Treasury Statement (Table 5). | Agency | FY2023 | FY2022 | |---|--:|--:| | Health & Human Services | 1,708.5 | 1,642.9 | | Social Security Administration | 1,416.3 | 1,282.1 | | Treasury (incl. interest) | 1,107.0 | 1,162.2 | | Defense — Military | 775.9 | 726.6 | | [[Department of Veterans Affairs]] | 301.0 | 273.9 | | Agriculture | 228.9 | 245.2 | | Office of Personnel Management | 122.5 | 113.6 | | Transportation | 109.8 | 113.7 | | Homeland Security | 89.0 | 80.9 | | Labor | 87.5 | 51.7 | | Housing & Urban Development | 55.2 | 29.3 | | Justice | 44.3 | 39.6 | | Energy | 34.4 | 22.4 | | International Assistance (incl. USAID) | 36.1 | 35.8 | | State | 33.0 | 33.2 | | NASA | 25.3 | 23.1 | | Interior | 15.9 | 13.9 | | EPA | 12.6 | 9.3 | | Commerce | 12.0 | 11.7 | | Education (FY2022 inflated, FY2023 reversal) | −41.1 | 639.4 | | Undistributed offsetting receipts | −301.1 | −418.9 | | All other agencies (net) | ~95 | ~83 | | **Total** | **6,134.4** | **6,271.6** | ## The RWKB read FY2023 anchors the conservative "spending is out of control" case: a 6%+ deficit with no recession and falling revenue. The [[Debt Ceiling]] fight that year previewed the [[Government Shutdown]] brinkmanship to come — and [[Net Interest on the Debt]] began its historic climb (+38.7% in one year). ## Sources - CBO, *Monthly Budget Review* FY2023 — totals. - U.S. Treasury, *Combined Statement FY2023* (Outlays by Function) — function table. - U.S. Treasury, *Monthly Treasury Statement* Table 5 (Outlays by Agency), Sept FY2023 — agency table. - GAO, *Schedules of Federal Debt* FY2023 (GAO-24-106340). ## Related - [[Federal Budget FY2022]] · [[Federal Budget FY2024]] · [[Budget Hub]] - [[Debt Ceiling]] · [[Federal Deficit and National Debt]]