Mandatory spending is also legislated by Congress, often for multiple years at a time. Other examples of discretionary spending include the early childhood education program Head Start (included in Housing & Community), public housing and homeless programs (Housing & Community), federal aid for public K-12 education (Education), Pell grants for low-income college students (Education), food assistance for Women, Infants and Children (or WIC, in Food and Agriculture), job training and placement for unemployed people (in Social Security, Unemployment and Labor), and scientific research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF), among many others. In 2020, because some discretionary spending passed through supplemental appropriations went to pandemic programs, the share of the discretionary budget that went to the military was smaller – even though the amount that went to the military was just as high as in previous years. In most years, this accounts for more than half of the discretionary budget. The pie chart shows federal spending in 2020 broken into these three categories.īy far, the biggest category of discretionary spending is spending on the Pentagon and military. Interest payments on the national debt account for a much smaller amount than the other two categories. Together, mandatory and discretionary spending account for more than ninety percent of all federal spending, and pay for all of the government services and programs on which we rely. Treasury divides all federal spending into three groups: mandatory spending, discretionary spending and interest on debt. So where does all that money go? Three Types of Federal Spending

The extinction of Ice Age animals like the wooly mammoth and saber-toothed tiger was only about 13,000 years ago, or less than half a trillion seconds. In 2020, the total federal budget ran much higher, at $7 trillion, because of all of the steps the government took to address the COVID-19 pandemic.īecause few of us have any idea what a trillion really is, here’s one example: 1 trillion seconds is about 31,000 years. The total federal budget of the United States has recently run about $4 trillion or more each year. Federal Spending: Where Does the Money Go Federal Budget 101

Home budget project graph