Despite Trump's promised cuts, U.S. spent about $220 billion more in first 100 days than last year

Despite promises to cut spending during the campaign and his first few months in office, President Trump's federal government has spent about $220 billion more in his first 100 days compared to the same time period last year.

In fact, the government is now spending more, day to day, than was spent in nine of the last 10 years. The exception: 2021, when the government was spending trillions to fight the coronavirus pandemic and prevent an economic disaster.

CBS News analyzed the Treasury Department's daily financial reports to track the money flowing out of every government account each day since Mr. Trump returned to office. A breakdown of what we discovered follows.First 100 days spending up vs. last two years

Day by day cumulative spending in the first few months of the Trump Administration is more than $200 billion higher than during the same period last yearSome might ask how that's possible given the high-profile repeated announcements of layoffs, canceled contracts, claims of fraud elimination by Mr. Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency and belt-tightening across the administration.

The answer partly lies in the fundamentals of the government's budget when it comes to big-ticket expenditures that the White House can't fully control or massive changes to the way the U.S. pays for aging Americans' retirements and medical care.

Politics make up the rest of the response. The conservative base that elected Mr. It's possible that Trump and the Republican majorities in Congress would not support cutting the other largest portion of federal spending, which is used to support veterans and carry out military operations.Take a look at some of the areas in Mr. that have seen the most spending and growth. Trump's first 100 days compared to the same time period in prior years.

Our investigation of the daily accounts reports issued by the Treasury Department reveals that direct payments to seniors and members of the armed forces account for a significant portion of the costs that have been steadily rising for the majority of time.The federal government's habit of spending more money than it takes in means the national debt is growing. The daily cost of paying debt interest is skyrocketing in tandem with rising interest rates. The sum paid out in the previous three years is roughly double what was paid out in the last three months. And the daily payments on bonds and other securities that show up in the Treasury Daily Statement cover only cash interest paid to public debt holders. The cost of the government's debt obligations is only increased by other components.

One way the Trump administration can impact the budget is through the civilian workforce, and that's been a focal point of Musk and DOGE via layoffs and buyouts. However, a lot of those attempts have been halted or reversed by legal challenges. Despite the announced staff reductions, one of the biggest areas of the increasing spending in the beginning of Mr. Trump's second term remains federal salaries. When then-President Biden signed an executive order two days before Christmas, workers received a raise of 2%. This was possible because Congress did not act on permanent federal budgets.

Federal employees salaries and retirement

Over the past decade, the military and veterans, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and debt repayments accounted for the majority of federal spending. They were responsible for nearly two-thirds of spending by the federal government during the most recent full fiscal year. That breakdown has barely changed over the last decade.

Makeup of federal government spending, FY24

The vast majority of DOGE's attempts to reduce spending so far have been outside of those areas and focused on smaller targets like grants to colleges and universities, foreign aid, and the Education Department that might be popular with President Trump's political base. There are some significant one-year spending reductions in some agencies and spending categories. Here's a look at some of the largest reductions since Mr. Trump took office.

Spending areas among largest 1-year decreases

Musk's DOGE team has focused on numerous federal programs with lower spending. According to the DOGE website, the task force has already saved $160 billion by cutting the federal workforce and canceling grants, contracts, and leases. According to the office's "wall of receipts" website, the Departments of Health and Human Services, General Services Administration, Department of Education, Department of Labor, and Office of Personnel Management have experienced the greatest reductions thus far. Only about $60 billion, or less than 40%, of that alleged savings are itemized on the office's online "wall of receipts" and even those itemizations have included errors and lax documentation.

But even the $160 billion advertised as saved so far would be tiny in the context of the larger federal budget and national debt.

The administration has already spent about $220 billion more than last year in a little over three months, according to CBS News' analysis of Treasury reports. The advertised savings represents less than 2% of a full year's national budget. That's akin to a family with $10,000 in monthly spending trimming its bills by $200 a month.

The supporters of the administration's cost-cutting efforts have characterized it as necessary to root out fraud and waste and to take a bite out of the national debt. However, as of this week, the Treasury Department reported that debt totals $36 trillion. The reduction achieved by DOGE's efforts would be equivalent to a family with $10,000 in credit card debt paying it off by $50, given that the advertised savings of $160 billion represent approximately 0.5 percent of the debt. An independent analysis by the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan nonprofit that studies the federal workforce, also reported recently that the disruptions caused by the DOGE cuts may have cost taxpayers $135 million.

Musk recently said his work with DOGE is winding down.

Explore the spending details yourself

The government's daily account ledgers are available for you to examine on your own. We have separated the money spent by category in the first few months of the Trump administration from that spent in each of the previous ten years. You can look at the change over time and how much or how little is being spent in the first 100 days of the Trump administration by searching for agencies or spending categories below. Since January, we have restricted the table to agencies and categories with spending of at least $100 million. 20, 2025.