America's Fiscal Future - Current Financial Condition
A bird’s eye view of the federal financial condition, GAO’s audits of the government’s books, and a little help for unpacking the federal financial report.
Each year, the Department of the Treasury (in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget) publishes the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government, which GAO audits. The Executive Summary (PDF, 12 pages) provides an overview of the government's finances. Here’s a quick overview of the federal financial condition over the past 3 years.
Financial Outcomes for Fiscal Years 2023 - 2025
FY 2025
FY 2024
FY 2023
Net Cost
$7.3 Trillion
$7.4 Trillion
$7.9 Trillion
Revenue
$5.2 Trillion
$5.0 Trillion
$4.5 Trillion
Assets (End of Fiscal Year)
$6.1 Trillion
$5.7 Trillion
$5.4 Trillion
Debt Held by the Public (End of Fiscal Year)
$30.2 Trillion
$28.2 Trillion
$26.2 Trillion
All Other Liabilities (End of Fiscal Year)
$17.6 Trillion
$17.1 Trillion
$16.7 Trillion
Budget Deficit
$1.8 Trillion
$1.8 Trillion
$1.7 Trillion
Source: Financial Report of the United States Government for Fiscal Years 2025, 2024, 2023.
Auditing the Federal Government’s Books
While federal financial management has improved since the government began preparing these statements, we have been unable to render an audit opinion on them primarily because of:
Serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense;
The federal government's inability to adequately account for intragovernmental activity and balance s between federal agencies; and
Weaknesses in the federal government’s process for preparing the consolidated financial statements.
Along with the three major impediments above, an additional eight major agencies—the Departments of Agriculture, Education, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, and Labor; Environmental Protection Agency, Small Business Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development—have experienced financial management challenges in recent years. For example, the Small Business Administration was not able to obtain opinions on its FYs 2020 through 2025 financial statements, after years of receiving clean opinions.Want to go deeper into the results? Read our work on Federal Financial Accountability.
Unpacking the Financial Report of the U.S. Government
GAO periodically publishes a guide to understanding the financial report of the U.S. government, for those who want to dig deeper into the financial report.
Short on time? The U.S. government publishes a yearly Executive Summary (PDF, 12 pages) that provides a brief high-level summary of key parts of the Financial Report. In the Financial Report, you will find the Executive Summary and the financial statements themselves, as well as:
Management’s Discussion and Analysis: Insights on topics including the reporting entity, the results of operations, and future outlook.
Notes to the Financial Statements: Disclosures and detailed information relating to the financial statements.
Required Supplementary Information: Additional information on topics such as fiscal sustainability and social insurance, as required by federal financial accounting standards.
Other Information: Information on topics such as the tax burden and the tax gap.
GAO’s Independent Auditor’s Report: Includes GAO’s reports on the reliability of the information in the financial statements and internal control over financial reporting.
