The Daily Brief | Federal Spending
The national debt jumped $74.9 billion in one day as fiscal year 2026 ended
On September 30, the last day of fiscal year 2026, total U.S. federal debt rose $74.9 billion to $40.17T, the largest one-day increase in recent data.
Key takeaways
- The national debt rose $74.9 billion on September 30, the largest single-day increase in the last two-plus weeks of Treasury data, reaching $40.17T total.
- $57.1 billion of the increase was debt held by the public; $17.7 billion was intragovernmental holdings, the Treasury securities held by federal trust funds.
- The Daily Treasury Statement for September 30 shows $261.8 billion in deposits and $214.4 billion in withdrawals, a net +$47.4 billion to the government's operating balance.
- Debt per resident now stands at $117,162, up about $218 in the day.
What happened on September 30
September 30 was the final day of federal fiscal year 2026. Treasury's debt-to-the-penny accounting recorded total public debt outstanding rising from $40.10 trillion on September 29 to $40.17T on September 30, a one-day increase of $74.9 billion. For context, the average daily change over the prior two months ran near $5.9 billion, and the second-largest one-day move in the recent window was about $60 billion on September 15.
Where the $74.9 billion sits
Total federal debt has two parts. Debt held by the public, the Treasury securities owned by investors, banks, the Federal Reserve, and foreign holders, rose $57.1 billion on the day to $32.43 trillion. Intragovernmental holdings, the securities held by federal trust funds such as Social Security, rose $17.7 billion to $7.75 trillion. Dividing the $40.17T total by the U.S. population of about 342.9 million gives debt per resident of $117,162, up about $218 from the prior day.
Sources
1. U.S. Department of the Treasury, Fiscal Data, Debt to the Penny dataset: https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/debt-to-the-penny/debt-to-the-penny
2. U.S. Department of the Treasury, Fiscal Data, Daily Treasury Statement, Operating Cash Balance: https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/daily-treasury-statement/operating-cash-balance
3. USAspending.gov award data (latest full reporting day September 29, 2026): https://www.usaspending.gov/
Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Daily Treasury Statement, September 28, 2026; Debt to the Penny.
Sources
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Daily Treasury Statement — operating cash balance, September 28, 2026 (fiscaldata.treasury.gov)
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Debt to the Penny — September 28, 2026 (fiscaldata.treasury.gov)
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