President-elect Barack Obama said Tuesday that he expects to inherit a $1 trillion federal deficit, a burden that will likely extend into the next few years.
Subsequently, Obama said he and his team want to instill a "sense of responsibility" about future budget choices. With a rapidly escalating deficit, it will be necessary for his team to do so.
That "sense of responsibility" includes a ban on all earmarks from the package he hopes to sign soon after he takes office on January 20th.
Obama’s comments came during press conference following a meeting between the president-elect and his economic team, including Tim Geithner, Obama's choice as Treasury Secretary, Rahm Emanuel, the chief of staff-designate, and Lawrence Summers, who is slated to become director of the National Economic Council.
The meeting also included Peter Orszag, Obama's pick for director of the Office of Management and Budget, Rob Nabors, who was tapped as the next deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget and Christina Romer, picked to be the next director of the Council of Economic Advisors.
Orszag is forecasting that the budget deficit would likely approach $1 trillion "before we've even started," Obama said, adding that the deficits are likely to continue in coming years.
"The reason I raise this is because we're going to have to stop talking about budget reform," Obama said, emphasizing that it is now "an absolute necessity."
The president-elect is working feverishly in the remaining weeks before his inauguration to get a head start on his economic stimulus plan, aiming for bipartisan support in the face of a severe recession.
The package, which is estimated to cost $775 billion, will be largely made up of tax cuts.
His meeting today came on the heels of a bipartisan push Monday, when Obama met with both Democrat and Republican lawmakers to discuss his proposed package, aiming at a swift passage following his inauguration.
At the meeting, Obama stressed bipartisanship.
"We may have disagreements, but I think it's going to be possible for us to work out those disagreements in the atmosphere of civility and comity," Obama said. "The American people, I think, are counting on us to act swiftly, boldly, but responsibly, in dealing with these issues.
"We are in a very difficult spot. The economy is bad. The situation is getting worse," Obama said.
"The economy is badly damaged. It is very sick," he added. "So we have to take whatever ... steps are required to make sure that it is stabilized."
The president-elect also vowed Tuesday that the process for creating the stimulus plan will be open, saying that Americans must know how their tax dollars are being spent.
Taking some questions from reporters after the meeting, Obama would not make specific comment about the conflict in Gaza, where Israel and Hamas have been battling. The president-elect deferred to President George Bush, repeating his principle that the U.S. should have only one foreign policy voice.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.