The US government raises revenue through taxes, tariffs, and fees.  The US government uses these funds to provide services such as national defense, Social Security, Medicare, national highway system, etc,

US Government Deficit

In 2026, the US government will collect about $5 trillion in taxes, tariffs, and fees, but the US government will spend about $7 trillion to pay for alll of the government services. If the taxes, tariffs, and fees, collected by the US government do not provide enough monry to fund government services, the US government has a deficit and the US government will have to borrow money to pay for those services.

To borrow money, the US government issues US Treasury Bills (paid back in one year or less), Notes (paid back in from 1 to 10 years) , and Bonds (paid back in 20 to 30 years).  A US Tresury bill, note, or bond, is an interest-paying IOU that the government issues to investors.  Anyone can buy these bills, notes, and bonds.  The US government pays an interest rate to the investor each month/quarter/year) and gives the investor their  entire "prinicple" (the money they loaned the government) back at the end of the term (months, quaters, years borrowed).  The US government has never failed to pay an investor their interest or principle.  The US government IOUs (bills, notes, and bonds) are the most trusted investments in the world. 

As of September 2026, the US government owes about $40 trillion in bills, notes, and bonds.  That is the most money that the US government has ever owed.

If you would like to know who borrowed all of this money, click on the link 2-Who Borrowed the Money in the link at the top of this page.