The federal budget deficit rose to nearly $2 trillion for the past fiscal year, spurred in part by ballooning interest payments and tariff refunds, the Congressional Budget Office reported Thursday. The gap between the revenue the federal government collects and the amount it spends widened by $218 billion, or 12%, in the last fiscal year, which ended September 30. The US debt hit a record $40 trillion in August, a grim milestone that will have consequences for Americans, businesses and the government for years to come. Yet the "big, beautiful bill" that President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans enacted last year is expected to add trillions more to the national debt over a decade as its generous tax breaks outweigh the package's spending cuts.