As Americans embrace the spooky season, a more tangible horror looms over the nation's fiscal future: the federal debt has ballooned to an unprecedented $40 trillion. This rapidly expanding fiscal burden threatens to overwhelm the economy unless Washington confronts the waste, fraud, and mismanagement that have become endemic in the capital.
On August 18, 2026, the national debt crossed the $40 trillion threshold for the first time, a staggering 100.8% increase from the $19.95 trillion recorded when President Trump took office in January 2017. That translates to over $116,000 owed for every man, woman, and child in the United States.
The outlook is even more alarming. A February 2026 Congressional Budget Office report projects annual deficits will rise from $1.9 trillion in fiscal 2026 to $3.1 trillion by fiscal 2036. Over that decade, deficits would average $2.44 trillion per year, adding $24.4 trillion and pushing gross federal debt to $64.6 trillion—61.5% above today's level. By fiscal 2036, debt would equal 120% of GDP, surpassing the previous record of 106% set in 1946.
Unlike the post-World War II era, this debt is not a consequence of a catastrophic conflict. It stems from a collective failure of the executive and legislative branches to eliminate wasteful spending. As the horror movie trope goes, the call is coming from inside the house.
Interest payments on the debt now rank as the third-largest federal expenditure, trailing only Social Security and Medicare, and ahead of defense. Every dollar spent servicing past borrowing is a dollar unavailable for other priorities. Without action, future generations will inherit the consequences of today's fiscal irresponsibility.
To counter this threat, Citizens Against Government Waste released its 2026 edition of Prime Cuts on October 14. First published in 1993 when the debt was a mere $4.4 trillion, the report offers 494 recommendations from both Democratic and Republican administrations, members of Congress, and nonpartisan sources. These proposals would save $639 billion in the first year and $5.6 trillion over five years.
Among the top targets is the Market Access Program, which subsidizes agricultural promotion overseas. Critics call it corporate welfare, funneling millions to large, profitable corporations that can afford their own advertising. Eliminating it would save $907 million over five years.
Another candidate for elimination is the Essential Air Service, launched in 1978 as a temporary 10-year program to maintain rural air links after deregulation. Nearly half a century later, it continues to subsidize mostly empty flights, sometimes costing thousands per passenger, for communities often just a short drive from major airports. Ending it would save $3.8 billion over five years.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, created under the Affordable Care Act in 2010, has also failed to deliver expected savings. The CBO projected it would save $2.8 billion between 2011 and 2020, but it instead cost taxpayers $5.4 billion, with another $1.3 billion in projected losses through 2030. Only six of its 50 models met criteria for nationwide expansion—a 12% success rate—prompting calls to retire the program and save $4.1 billion over five years.
These are just a few of the cuts proposed in the report. As Halloween marks the end of the first month of fiscal 2027, lawmakers can either continue to ignore the fiscal blob or finally take action to curb the waste that threatens America's economic stability.
Deborah Collier is vice president of policy and government affairs at Citizens Against Government Waste.
