Kevin Hassett

The US federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2026 will be about $600 billion lower than the FY2025 deficit.

“right now, it's looking like the deficit for this year will be $600 billion lower than it was last year”

Said on

14 December 2025 · CBS Face the Nation interview as National Economic Council director, Dec 14, 2025; FY2026 runs Oct 2025 to Sept 2026.

Source

Transcript: Kevin Hassett, National Economic Council director, on Face the Nation, Dec. 14, 2025 · CBS News

Should come true

2026

How sure they sounded

it's looking like

Categories

EconomyPolitics

Importance

3 of 5 · Forecast of the size of the US federal deficit, a key national fiscal measure.

Outcome

Inaccurate Happened 30 September 2026.

CBO's September 2026 Monthly Budget Review puts the FY2026 deficit at about $2.0 trillion, $218 billion higher than FY2025's $1.8 trillion, not $600 billion lower. Reading "this year" as calendar 2025 doesn't rescue it either: the year-over-year drop was well short of $600 billion.

Evidence:

• https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/cbo-fy-2026-budget-deficit-totaled-2-trillion/