Build your own
Federal Budget FY 2027
How should the government spend our money and how should it tax? Build your own budget from proposals across the political spectrum.
Free - no signup - jump right in
What is a budget hole?
A budget hole is a shortfall between what the federal government actually takes in and what it plans to spend. The United States knows the problem well - deficits have run more than $1 trillion every year since FY 2020, and CBO projects them to grow past $3 trillion by the mid-2030s.
How does it open up?
Sometimes revenue falls short because the economy weakens or Congress cuts taxes (the 2017 TCJA and the 2025 OBBBA are recent examples). Sometimes outlays run up because of crises, new benefits, or rising interest costs on the debt already accumulated.
How do you close it?
Raise revenue and cut spending - but especially the first one rarely happens at scale. The result: chronic financing gaps that get filled with new debt or, eventually, hard cuts.
Three steps to your own budget
Since Congress cannot close the gap, it is on you. Build your own FY 2027 budget for the United States and make the deficit go away.
Explore the categories
Click into any spending block - from "Social Security" to "National Defense". You see the current CBO baseline numbers and a curated menu of reform proposals.
Activate reforms
Pick from options sourced from CBO, JCT, GAO, CRFB, Penn Wharton, Tax Policy Center, Tax Foundation, CBPP, and Brookings. Progressive, conservative, technocratic - your call.
Share & debate
Once your budget balances the way you want, share it via link on Bluesky, Mastodon, or anywhere else. Others can copy, remix, or compare. Fiscal policy is a negotiation.
Always up to date
BudgetHole.com is continuously maintained. As new CBO reports, JCT scores, GAO recommendations, or legislative proposals come out, they flow into the simulator - as new options, corrected amounts, or additional sources.
Every change is logged
All adjustments to the simulator are documented with date, time, effect, and original source in the changelog - newest entries on top. Baseline: CBO Budget and Economic Outlook 2026-2036 (February 2026), updated as new data lands.