Top federal agencies by spending: FY2023
≈ computed · obligationsDepartment of Health and Human Services obligated $1.8T in FY2023, more than any other federal agency. Cabinet departments and independent agencies at the top tier, ranked by what they obligated. Sub-agencies roll up into their parent here and are ranked separately. ≈ computed
Ranked from USASpending records, data current as of 2026-07-03. FY2020 to FY2025 are loaded.
- 1Department of Health and Human Services571 recipients$1.8T
- 2Social Security Administration76 recipients$1.4T
- 3Department of Defense630 recipients$467.2B
- 4Department of Veterans Affairs169 recipients$256.9B
- 5Department of Agriculture348 recipients$206.7B
- 6Department of Transportation262 recipients$112.2B
- 7Department of Education248 recipients$86.8B
- 8Department of Housing and Urban Development151 recipients$73B
- 9Department of Homeland Security350 recipients$61.3B
- 10Department of Energy240 recipients$56B
- 11Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation19 recipients$46.4B
- 12Agency for International Development87 recipients$38B
- 13General Services Administration219 recipients$24.4B
- 14Department of State135 recipients$23.9B
- 15National Aeronautics and Space Administration214 recipients$22.2B
- 16Department of the Interior240 recipients$18.5B
- 17Department of Justice254 recipients$16.1B
- 18Environmental Protection Agency166 recipients$15.6B
- 19Railroad Retirement Board4 recipients$14.2B
- 20Federal Communications Commission52 recipients$13.3B
- 21Department of the Treasury114 recipients$13.1B
- 22Department of Labor104 recipients$11.7B
- 23Department of Commerce212 recipients$10.7B
- 24National Science Foundation143 recipients$9.1B
- 25$1.4B
- 26Corporation for National and Community Service28 recipients$1.1B
- 27Securities and Exchange Commission12 recipients$701.8M
- 28Millennium Challenge Corporation7 recipients$670.3M
- 29U.S. Agency for Global Media3 recipients$515.5M
- 30Office of Personnel Management12 recipients$496.4M
- 31Smithsonian Institution0 recipients$493.4M
- 32Executive Office of the President14 recipients$380.6M
- 33Institute of Museum and Library Services17 recipients$280.6M
- 34National Archives and Records Administration11 recipients$274.5M
- 35Appalachian Regional Commission5 recipients$273.8M
- 36Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council4 recipients$219.2M
- 37Nuclear Regulatory Commission8 recipients$199.4M
- 38National Endowment for the Humanities18 recipients$167.8M
- 39National Endowment for the Arts6 recipients$162.2M
- 40Consumer Financial Protection Bureau9 recipients$148.6M
- 41Government Accountability Office4 recipients$132M
- 42Peace Corps3 recipients$126.9M
- 43Federal Trade Commission2 recipients$112.5M
- 44Commodity Futures Trading Commission1 recipient$87.5M
- 45Equal Employment Opportunity Commission6 recipients$63.6M
- 46Election Assistance Commission1 recipient$61.5M
- 47National Gallery of Art0 recipients$57.1M
- 48Consumer Product Safety Commission28 recipients$55.2M
- 49Denali Commission4 recipients$46.9M
- 50Small Business Administration25 recipients$46.6M
- 51District of Columbia Courts2 recipients$36.9M
- 52National Labor Relations Board0 recipients$30.7M
- 53Inter-American Foundation0 recipients$30.5M
- 54Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency6 recipients$29.4M
- 55United States Trade and Development Agency0 recipients$25.8M
- 56Delta Regional Authority0 recipients$18.4M
- 57National Transportation Safety Board2 recipients$17.9M
- 58Federal Election Commission1 recipient$17.5M
- 59International Trade Commission1 recipient$15.7M
- 60John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts0 recipients$8.7M
- 61Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service0 recipients$7.9M
- 62Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board0 recipients$6.8M
- 63Selective Service System0 recipients$6.8M
- 64Merit Systems Protection Board1 recipient$4.9M
- 65Federal Maritime Commission1 recipient$4.4M
- 66$4.1M
- 67$2.8M
- 68National Credit Union Administration0 recipients$2.7M
- 69Federal Labor Relations Authority0 recipients$2.5M
- 70United States Chemical Safety Board0 recipients$2.4M
- 71Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission0 recipients$1.8M
- 72$1.8M
- 73Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission0 recipients$859.9K
- 74Federal Housing Finance Agency0 recipients$723.1K
- 75Administrative Conference of the U.S.0 recipients$93.3K
- 76Library of Congress0 recipients$87K
- 77Export-Import Bank of the United States1 recipient$0
Obligations are commitments, not outlays: an agency obligates money in the year it awards, which can precede the year the money is actually paid.
Questions
- Which federal agency spends the most in FY2023?
- Department of Health and Human Services, with $1.8T obligated in FY2023, ahead of Social Security Administration at $1.4T.
- Why is the Department of Defense not first?
- Because this ranks all obligations, and the health and retirement programs run by HHS and the Social Security Administration move more money than defense procurement does. Ranked by CONTRACT dollars alone, Defense leads by a wide margin.
- Where does this ranking come from?
- It is computed from USASpending.gov award records, which are U.S. government works and in the public domain. Each figure is the agency's total obligations for FY2023. TheFiscalFinder does the ranking; the underlying figures are the government's own.
- How many agencies are shown?
- The top 77 for FY2023. Each row opens that agencie's own page, where the same money is broken out by year, by counterparty and by place.
- Does a high position mean anything is wrong?
- No. This is a description of where public money went in FY2023, computed from public records. It is not an allegation about anyone on it.
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