Twenty-two percent of the total federal budget — $1.35 trillion —
was for Social Security. The main groups that received these benefits
are people of retirement age (who were awarded $1.15 trillion), people
with disabilities ($150.9 billion), and survivors of deceased spouses or
children ($50.9 billion).
In December 2023, 67.1 million people received monthly Social
Security benefits, including 50.1 million retired workers and 7.4
million disabled workers, plus these groups’ dependents. It also
included 5.8 million survivors.
Government healthcare plans were also among the largest aspects of
mandatory spending. Medicare accounted for $848 billion, while Medicaid
accounted for $616 billion.
Everything in the federal budget that isn’t mandatory spending is
called discretionary spending, which amounted to $1.7 trillion last
year. Unlike mandatory spending, these categories have more flexible
budgets and are subject to congressional appropriations.
The US spent $806 billion on defense, the biggest discretionary
category, with $317 billion of that supporting acquiring and maintaining
new weapons systems. About $173 billion covered military personnel pay
and benefits. Another $142 billion covered modifying/procuring new
aircraft, armored vehicles, satellites, and more.
The largest non-defense aspect of discretionary spending is still
military-related: $131 billion for veterans’ benefits. Second to that
was funding for education, including special education, adult education,
and financial aid at $125 billion. Another $115 billion went to
transportation projects.
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