Federal award obligations were $4.8 trillion in FY2026 to date, against $2.0 trillion in FY2008 — a rise of 133.6% over 19 fiscal years. The instruments behind that total moved in different directions, which is why they are drawn separately.
American Factbook Research
Federal award obligations by fiscal year, FY2008 to FY2026
Breaks in comparability
FY2026: The newest year is not over. Its figure is obligations recorded so far and is not comparable with a full year beside it.
FY2008–FY2026: 64 agencies reported in FY2008 and 73 in FY2026. The 15 that appear later obligated $59.7 million in the latest year, so the rise is not the reporting set growing.
Insurance: The insurance line is the face value of federal insurance — the amount covered — and it dominates some years and not others. The fall between FY2013 and FY2014 is a change in what was recorded under that heading and not a fall in federal spending; the brief on it is linked below.
All award types
All award types: Federal award obligations by fiscal year, FY2008 to FY2026 by period
These are obligations — binding commitments to pay — and not money paid out. Treasury reports outlays separately and the two are never equal in one year.
Award types are not equivalent quantities. The face value of a loan guarantee and the price of a contract are different kinds of number, which is why they are separate lines rather than a stacked total.
Nothing here is adjusted for inflation. A dollar in the first year of this series and a dollar in the last are different amounts of money, and the publisher does not deflate its own figures.
USAspending API v2 — U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service · U.S. Government work, public domain (17 U.S.C. 105) · retrieved September 19, 2026