The government ran a deficit of $189 billion in the month of March alone, according to preliminary estimates — more than three times the $61 billion in spending cuts that have brought the government to the brink of a shutdown.
And with six months of the fiscal year already gone, the Congressional Budget Office said the government is running a record $830 billion deficit, which puts it on pace for a new record.
CBO’s preliminary numbers come as Congress is trying to hash out a full-year spending bill that would fund the government through the rest of fiscal year 2011, which began Oct. 1.
House Republicans have proposed cutting spending by $61 billion, but the Senate has rejected that bill. Instead, Senate Democrats are proposing about $33 billion in spending reductions, though they have yet to pass a bill to make those cuts.
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