(The Center Square)–The federal government borrowed $710 billion in the first three months of fiscal year 2025, with 10 days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The Congressional Budget Office reported $710 billion in borrowing, including $85 billion in the month of December, according to the latest Monthly Budget Review.
Federal agencies, including the CBO, expect deficit spending to continue despite promises from Trump and others to cut the federal budget.
Trump promised to cut “hundreds of billions” in federal spending in 2025 through the reconciliation process, a parliamentary procedure that allows Congress to expedite the passage of some federal budget legislation.
Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, run by Tesla boss Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, also promised to cut the federal government down to size. Earlier this week, Musk estimated DOGE could trim $1 trillion from the federal budget, a sizable amount considering discretionary spending totaled $1.7 trillion in 2023. Generally, Congress spends about half of its discretionary budget on the U.S. Department of Defense.
Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said U.S. borrowing should be a focus as Trump takes office.
“As we start the new year ushering in a new administration and a new Congress, we must not lose sight of the fiscal challenges ahead,” she said. “Our unsustainable debt isn’t something we can just shy away from, as 2025 is packed full of fiscal deadlines. So far we’ve heard much about how lawmakers plan to spend more and tax less; we’ve heard much less about the opposite.”
MacGuineas suggested no new borrowing and guaranteeing all tax cuts and spending increases are fully offset. That’s a daunting challenge for lawmakers as they look to extend the tax provision in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which the CBO estimated will cost about $4 trillion over the next decade.
Congress has run a deficit every year since 2001. In the past 50 years, the federal government has ended with a fiscal year-end budget surplus four times, most recently in 2001.
Why One Survival Food Company Shines Above the Rest
Let’s be real. “Prepper Food” or “Survival Food” is generally awful. The vast majority of companies that push their cans, bags, or buckets desperately hope that their customers never try them and stick them in the closet or pantry instead. Why? Because if the first time they try them is after the crap hits the fan, they’ll be too shaken to call and complain about the quality.
It’s true. Most long-term storage food is made with the cheapest possible ingredients with limited taste and even less nutritional value. This is why they tout calories so much. Sure, they provide calories but does anyone really want to go into the apocalypse with food their family can’t stand?
This is what prompted the Llewellyns to launch Heaven’s Harvest. They bought survival food from multiple companies and determined they couldn’t imagine being stuck in an extended emergency with such low-quality food. They quickly discovered that freeze drying food for long-term storage doesn’t have to mean sacrificing flavor, consistency, or nutrition.
Their ingredients are all-American. In fact, they’re locally sourced and all-natural! This allows their products to be the highest quality on the market, so good that their customers often break open a bag in a pinch to eat because they want to, not just because they have to due to an emergency.
At Heaven’s Harvest, their only focus is amazing food. They don’t sell bugout bags, solar chargers, or multitools. They have one mission – feeding Americans in times of crisis.
What they DO offer is the ability for people to thrive in times of greatest need. On top of long-term storage food, they offer seeds to help Americans for the truly long-term. They want them to grow their own food if possible which is why they offer only Heirloom, Non-GMO, Non-Hybrid, Open-Pollinated seeds so their customers can build permanent food security on their own property.
