The US government began fiscal 2027 with a record October budget deficit of $404 billion, up $120 billion, or 42%, from a year earlier and above forecasts for a $298.6 billion gap. The deficit and government spending were the highest ever recorded for October. Receipts fell $35 billion, or 9%, to $369 billion, including a 39% decline in customs collections to $19.2 billion from $31.3 billion a year earlier, when tariff revenue reached its peak under President Donald Trump's global tariff program. Individual non-withheld tax receipts dropped $29 billion, or 36%, to $51 billion, partly because the prior-year comparison included payments following delayed filing deadlines for Californians affected by early-2025 wildfires. Outlays rose $84 billion, or 12%, to a monthly record of $773 billion, driven partly by higher Agriculture Department spending on farm relief and military spending that included a delayed payment to military trust funds. Gross interest on federal debt rose $11 billion, or 11%, to $115 billion. After adjusting for November benefit payments shifted into October in both fiscal years, the deficit would have been $285 billion, up $94 billion, or 49%, from a year earlier. The result followed a nearly $2 trillion fiscal 2026 deficit, estimated at 6.2% of US GDP versus 5.8% in fiscal 2025, complicating Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's goal of reducing the deficit to 3% of GDP. Fiscal 2026 spending included Medicare at $170 billion, Social Security at $143 billion, national defense at $103 billion and net interest at $103 billion; the net-interest figure differs from the Treasury's gross-interest total.