President Trump has promised that every adult American could receive a $5,000 windfall if Republicans win both chambers of Congress in the midterms in November, and, while light on details, the plan would cost more than $1 trillion.The president did not specify who would pay for the scheme, but said the money would have to be spent on U.S. goods and services. According to Census Bureau data for 2020, there were 260 million adults living in the U.S.—a figure likely to have increased as the population continues to age. Yet even with this more conservative figure in mind, the plan would still cost at least $1.3 trillion.If the plan were deemed legal and feasible, it would be funded by the U.S. Treasury, which is already financing deficits and the interest payments required to service its public debt.
The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) latest monthly budget update, released yesterday, reports the federal budget deficit totaled $2 trillion in the first 11 months of fiscal year 2026, beginning in October and ending in August. This was $6 billion less than the deficit recorded for the same period last year.
However, the CBO points out that this reduction is only due to shifts in payment timings. Payments that had been due to land on September 1, 2025, were instead moved to August of that year—if it weren’t for the reallocation, this year’s deficit would stand at $82 billion more than the same period in 2025.
