The Federal Budget Deficit Is So Massive That Even Eliminating Major Programs Wouldn't Balance It
Source: Christopher Jacobs. "Not Even Nuking Social Security Would Be Enough To Fix Deficit." March 12, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that America's budget deficit is so huge that we couldn't fix it even by completely eliminating major programs like Social Security or the military. This shows we need serious action now before the problem gets even worse.
Conclusion
The U.S. federal budget deficit has reached such extreme proportions that even eliminating entire major spending categories would not be sufficient to balance the budget, demonstrating the urgent need for comprehensive fiscal action.
Premises
- The federal budget can be divided into three major categories: discretionary spending ($1.88 trillion), major health care programs ($1.908 trillion), and Social Security ($1.666 trillion)
- Even if we completely eliminated all discretionary spending (including military and all government operations), we would only achieve a small surplus of $27 billion
- Even if we eliminated all major health care programs (Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare), we would only achieve a surplus of $55 billion
- Even if we completely eliminated Social Security, we would still run a deficit of $187 billion
- Interest costs alone will exceed $1 trillion this year and are projected to double to $2 trillion annually by 2035
- Current politicians are avoiding difficult fiscal decisions to win elections, thereby transferring the burden to future generations
Assumptions
- The three-bucket categorization accurately represents the federal budget structure
- CBO projections are reliable indicators of future fiscal conditions
- Balancing the federal budget is a desirable policy goal
- Current spending levels are unsustainable in the long term
- Political incentives prevent politicians from making necessary fiscal reforms