How concerned are Americans about the budget deficit? What a new poll found

A large majority of Americans are worried about the U.S. budget deficit, according to a new poll.

In the latest Economist/YouGov poll, 71% of respondents said they are very (36%) or somewhat concerned (35%) about the size of the federal budget deficit, which is the annual shortfall when government spending exceeds revenue.

Meanwhile, just 15% said they are not very (11%) or not at all concerned (4%) about the deficit.

On this question, there was widespread agreement across the political spectrum, with 80% of Republicans, 70% of Democrats and 63% of independents expressing concern.

When asked how to reduce the budget deficit, 74% of respondents — including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents — said government spending should be cut. Just 22% said taxes should be raised.

The poll sampled 1,512 U.S. adults April 13-15 and has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

It comes as the Republican-controlled Congress is working to pass a budget reconciliation package for fiscal year 2025 — with proposed spending measures on track to increase the budget deficit, according to analysts.

The Senate’s proposed resolution would allow for $5.8 trillion in additional deficits through 2034, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a non-partisan nonprofit.

“Such a bill would be historically unprecedented in its fiscal irresponsibility, adding several times more debt than any reconciliation package or other recent piece of legislation,” according to the organization.

Similarly, the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank, found the Senate resolution would increase the deficit by up to $5.7 trillion.

In fiscal year 2024, government spending was $6.75 trillion and revenue was $4.92 trillion, leading to a deficit of $1.83 trillion — a $138 billion increase from the previous year, according to the Treasury Department.

Meanwhile, the national debt — the total money owed by the government, resulting from accumulated annual deficits — now stands at $36.21 trillion, a record high.

“The U.S. federal debt is on an unsustainable path,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on April 16. “No one really knows how much further we can go … This is a situation that we very much need to address.”

This story was originally published April 17, 2025 at 8:57 AM with the headline "How concerned are Americans about the budget deficit? What a new poll found."