What is the U.S. Budget and Where does the Money Go?

The actual payments made by the U.S. government in 2002 amounted to just over two trillion dollars - thats 2,000 billion dollars! We have taken a close look at the budget and pulled out some of the major categories to give you an idea of the allocations. The amounts below are in millions of dollars (1,000,000). See the "notes" section below for further descriptions of the categories.

category millions of dollars
Social security 456,413 United States Budget: Social security
National defense 348,555 United States Budget: National defense
Medicare 230,855 United States Budget: Medicare
Health 196,545 United States Budget: Health
Interest 170,951 United States Budget: Interest
Other 97,794 United States Budget: Other
Fed. employee retirement 83,193 United States Budget: Federal employee retirement
Education/soc. services 70,544 United States Budget: Education and Social services
Transportation 61,862 United States Budget: Transportation
Veterans services 50,984 United States Budget: Veterans services
Unemployment 50,645 United States Budget: Unemployment
Administration of justice 34,316 United States Budget: Administration of justice
Food assistance 33,228 United States Budget: Food assistance
Natural resources 29,454 United States Budget: Natural resources
International affairs 22,357 United States Budget: International affairs
Agriculture 22,188 United States Budget: Agriculture
General government 17,385 United States Budget: General government
Space flight 13,473 United States Budget: Space flight
Community development 12,991 United States Budget: Community development
General science 7,242 United States Budget: General science

Notes:

  • Social Security: Disability Insurance (DI) and Social Security payments.
  • National defense: military personnel, operations, procurement, research.
  • Medicare: Hospital Insurance (HI), Supplementary medical insurance (SMI).
  • Health: Medicaid grants, National Institute of Health, health care services.
  • Interest: interest payments on government debt.
  • Other: all other payments not specifically listed in this chart.
  • Federal employee retirement: Federal employee retirement, disability, and related programs.
  • Education/social services: public broadcasting, library of congress, education expenses, financial aid for students.
  • Transportation: administration, maintenence and building of transportation infrastructure.
  • Veterans services: Financial and medical aid for veterans.
  • Unemployment: unemployment insurance.
  • Administration of justice: law enforcement, border control, prison system.
  • Food assistance: food stamps and child nutrition programs.
  • Natural resources: pollution control, land management, recreational resources.
  • International affairs: international security assistance, humanitarian assistance, State department.
  • Agriculture: Farm subsidies, research, programs.
  • General government: central fiscal operations, general government expenses.
  • Space flight: procurement, operations, research and supporting activities.
  • Community development: disaster relief, community programs, Indian programs.
  • General science: Basic research funding through National Science Foundation and Department of Energy (does not include space research).





 


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Category: The United States

Other Links: White House.gov FY 2007   CIA World Fact Book  

Source: Budget of the U.S. Government



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