An $80 billion request would push the total provided to the Defense Department so far for those wars and for U.S. efforts against terrorism elsewhere in the world to more than $280 billion. An additional $25 billion has been provided to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan, all but $4 billion for Iraq.
The agency was expected to project that this year’s shortfall would be close to the $348 billion it forecast last fall. If accurate, that would be the third largest deficit ever in dollar terms, behind only last year’s $412 billion and the $377 billion gap of 2003.
The deficit estimates for 2005 and for the next 10 years, however, were excluding war costs and other expenses, thanks to quirks in the way the law requires the budget office to make its estimates.
