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Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

Fiscal 2024 federal spending, as projected by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, is $6.94 trillion — 56% higher than the $4.45 trillion in fiscal 2019.

Republican Eric Hovde said spending is “50% higher than pre-COVID levels.” He is running in the Nov. 5, 2024, election against U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.

Annual outlays remain well above fiscal 2019. That’s largely because $4.65 trillion in federal funds was spent in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal outlays increased from $4.45 trillion in 2019 to $6.55 trillion in 2020 and are projected to be $6.94 trillion in 2024.

Besides COVID-19, higher outlays are also due to inflation and spending packages such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act during the Biden administration, as well as rising Social Security and Medicare costs.

Spending is up, but revenue is too, by 47% in 2024 compared with 2019.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Congressional Budget Office: An Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: 2024 to 2034

River Channel: 2024 Western Wisconsin Journal: U.S. Senate Candidate Eric Hovde (R)

USA Spending: The Federal Response to COVID-19

Congressional Budget Office: Historical Budget Data February 2024

Google Docs: OMB federal outlays

Wisconsin Watch: Have prices increased 40-50% since Donald Trump left office?

McKinsey: The Inflation Reduction Act: Here’s what’s in it

Cherry Bekaert: Are You Ready to Capitalize on the Infrastructure Bill?

Wisconsin Watch: Did the US spend $6T last year compared with $4T four years ago?

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Is federal spending 50% higher than pre-COVID levels?

by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch
September 20, 2024

<h1>Is federal spending 50% higher than pre-COVID levels?</h1>
<p class="byline">by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch <br />September 20, 2024</p>

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<p><em><em><a href="https://www.wisconsinwatch.org/">Wisconsin Watch</a></em> partners with&nbsp;<a href="https://gigafact.org/">Gigafact</a>&nbsp;to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. <a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/how-wisconsin-watch-checks-claims-for-its-gigafact-fact-briefs/">Read our methodology</a> to learn how we check claims.</em></p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Yes.</h2>
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<p>Fiscal 2024 federal spending, as projected by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, is&nbsp;$6.94 trillion&nbsp;— 56% higher than the $4.45 trillion in fiscal 2019.</p>
<p>Republican Eric Hovde said&nbsp;spending is “50% higher than pre-COVID levels."&nbsp;He is running in the Nov. 5, 2024, election against U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.</p>
<p>Annual&nbsp;outlays&nbsp;remain well above fiscal 2019. That's largely because&nbsp;$4.65 trillion&nbsp;in federal funds was spent in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal outlays increased from $4.45 trillion in 2019 to $6.55 trillion in 2020 and are projected to be $6.94 trillion in 2024.</p>
<p>Besides COVID-19, higher outlays are also due to&nbsp;inflation&nbsp;and spending packages such as the&nbsp;Inflation Reduction Act&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act&nbsp;during the Biden administration, as well as&nbsp;rising&nbsp;Social Security and Medicare costs.</p>
<p>Spending is up, but revenue is too, by 47% in 2024 compared with 2019.</p>
<p><em>This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmchkD6PO40&amp;t=1207s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">this one</a>.</em></p>
<p><strong>Sources</strong></p>
<p>Congressional Budget Office:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60039" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">An Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: 2024 to 2034</a></p>
<p>River Channel:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmchkD6PO40&amp;t=1207s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2024 Western Wisconsin Journal: U.S. Senate Candidate Eric Hovde (R)</a></p>
<p>USA Spending:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usaspending.gov/disaster/covid-19?publicLaw=all" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Federal Response to COVID-19</a></p>
<p>Congressional Budget Office:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/data/budget-economic-data#2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Historical Budget Data February 2024</a></p>
<p>Google Docs:&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N-ZNtKhdslGN0ERmgnG4pQ1zumJjXhF7nrMPBPKIshQ/edit" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OMB federal outlays</a></p>
<p>Wisconsin Watch:&nbsp;<a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/06/trump-biden-wisconsin-inflation-prices-consumer-fact-brief/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Have prices increased 40-50% since Donald Trump left office?</a></p>
<p>McKinsey:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/the-inflation-reduction-act-heres-whats-in-it" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Inflation Reduction Act: Here’s what’s in it</a></p>
<p>Cherry Bekaert:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbh.com/guide/articles/infrastructure-bill-2021-breakdown-analysis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Are You Ready to Capitalize on the Infrastructure Bill?</a></p>
<p>Wisconsin Watch:&nbsp;<a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/10/fact-brief-us-government-spending/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Did the US spend $6T last year compared with $4T four years ago?</a></p>
</p></div>
<p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/09/federal-spending-wisconsin-hovde-baldwin-covid-budget/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://wisconsinwatch.org&quot;&gt;Wisconsin Watch&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p>
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