What if they held an election and a budget process broke out?

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October marks the end of one federal government fiscal year and the start of the new.

It offers an opportunity for budget wonks — like ourselves — to take stock of where America’s finances are headed, and the picture is scary.

Frighteningly, the federal deficit we racked up in the last fiscal year (2024) was $1.8 trillion. That’s already almost double what we were borrowing annually before the COVID pandemic. That means despite the economy recovering since then, we’re still piling on debt. Our deficit is now the largest it has ever been as a share of the economy outside of a war, recession or emergency.

The resulting debt is, in fact, so massive that we spent nearly $900 billion on interest on the national debt alone in fiscal year 2024.

To put it in perspective, that’s more than we’re spending on all children programs at the federal level. It’s even more than we’re spending on national defense or Medicare. Only Social Security tops our interest payments as a larger line item in the budget. This deficit and debt burden is clearly crowding out other important priorities and reducing our ability to invest in future generations.

It is often said that budgeting is about choices and priorities. It’s about how to allocate between consumption and investment and, ultimately, how much of the bill we are willing to pay now or leave our grandkids to pay.

Looking at the fiscal year ahead, one thing is abundantly clear: Our national leaders will soon face a number of decision-forcing moments as it relates to deficits and debt.

Within weeks, America will choose a new president. Sadly, both candidates have already proposed adding trillions more to the debt if elected. America will also choose a new Congress, which will have the power of the purse on tax and spending decisions for the next two years. Will Congress follow the lead of the next president or chart a more fiscally prudent course?

Before year end, Congress will need to perform its most basic function — funding the government. It should have already done this by Oct. 1, the start of fiscal year 2025. But it’s missed that deadline for nearly 30 years. Since this budget work will occur during the holidays, it will present Congress an opportunity to either appropriate funds responsibly or to decorate yet another Christmas tree bill with excessive spending.

Crucial budget decisions also extend into the new year as well, starting with the critically important need to raise or suspend the nation’s borrowing or debt limit. Will policymakers use this moment to get serious about our nation’s finances, or will they kick the can down the road again?

Perhaps the costliest choice of all will come in the early months of 2025. What will Congress do about the expiration of major spending and tax provisions, including the end of the caps on discretionary spending put in place last year and, perhaps most important, the end of significant portions of the tax cuts enacted in 2017? Failure to make the fiscally responsible decisions on these issues could add trillions more to our projected $22 trillion in new debt over the next decade.

The enormous impacts those decisions will have on America’s future debt trajectory are truly unprecedented.

Far too often, lawmakers choose political expediency rather than make the tough decisions. This has led to a ballooning debt that carries substantial risks for our country. Among those risks: slower economic growth, higher interest rates, higher inflation and a reduced capacity to respond to emergencies. Not to mention an ever-growing burden placed on future generations.

Ultimately, the choices made by our elected officials in the coming months will determine the stability, security and prosperity for millions of Americans today and generations yet to come. What will they do once the election dust settles? More important, what do you want them to do?

Tim Penny represented Minnesota’s First Congressional District from 1983 to 1995 and is the co-chair of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Maya MacGuineas is the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. MacGuineas will be giving a presentation on the federal budget at the Economic Club of Minnesota on Nov. 21.