The Treasury Department says the federal government took in $779 billion less in FY2018 than it paid out.  It's the largest budget deficit since 2012 and represents a 17% increase from last year.

The Hill:

Overall receipts were similar to the previous year, up 0.5 percent despite a booming economy and a low unemployment rate.  Outlays, however, rose six times faster, surpassing $4.1 trillion.

Earlier this month, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office issued a similar deficit figure of $782 billion.

The fiscal performance is at odds with what President Trump promised on the campaign trail, when he said he would eliminate the debt over two terms.  Fiscal 2018 was the first full fiscal year under Trump's watch, and debt has risen from $20 trillion to around $21.5 trillion since he took office.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney issued a joint statement that blamed Congress for the increasing deficits, arguing that the president had requested far-reaching spending cuts in his budget proposals.

"The President’s Budget has provided multiple avenues for Congress to tackle reckless Washington spending with aggressive proposals that reduced deficits by $3.6 trillion over 10 years," according to a document released Monday by the Treasury.  "The Administration will work with Members of Congress on a renewed focus to reduce the deficit and get our fiscal house back in order."

Trump's modest budget-cutting proposals would not have narrowed the deficit more than a fraction of what it is.  That's because his cuts targeted discretionary spending, which makes up less than 25% of the total budget. 

Everyone knows that in order to balance the budget, something must be done about Social Security and Medicare.  The Democrats' mantra of raising taxes on the rich to close the deficit is absurd.  It's a political talking point having nothing to do with the reality of sensible budgeting.  The real culprits are entitlement programs, and the failure of Congress to pass meaningful reforms means that whenever we do get around to addressing the crisis – and it's coming sooner rather than later – the fix will be painful. 

Kicking the can down the road on entitlements and fixing the budget deficit will work for only so long.  Eventually, America will have to pay the piper on both.  When we do, it won't be pretty.