The federal deficit increased $35 billion in October compared to the same month last year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Wednesday.
The U.S. spent $98 billion more than it took in during October, the first month of the 2019 fiscal year, according to the latest CBO report.
The spike in the deficit was fueled by the Republican tax law, which substantially cut revenues without offsetting them. It was also inflated by a bipartisan agreement to increase discretionary spending.{mosads}
Top administration officials have repeatedly claimed that strong economic growth would produce a surge of revenue to bring down the deficit, even as the White House’s own projections put the 2019 deficit at more than $1 trillion.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who is likely to become the next Speaker after Democrats regained a majority in the House in Tuesday’s elections, has said she would reintroduce pay-as-you-go rules to keep deficits down.
Conservative advocacy groups have called on Republicans to pass mandatory spending cuts in the lame duck session, before the new Congress is sworn in early next year.