I was recently inspired by the charts that the Treasury Department includes as Figures 1 and 2 in the Monthly Treasury Statement. (Well, “inspired” is the wrong word – I was deeply impressed with how the visual representation of federal revenues and spending by source and destination makes apparent how horrible the deficit situation is, and how intractable. So depressing, but impressive.)

So I figured out how to create the same kind of “Sankey” chart for the Highway Trust Fund, and I believe it is illuminating. (Note for those of you thinking of getting a home keg beer dispenser: Sankey is also the trademark name of the type of coupler used by all AB and MillerCoors kegs and most other domestic kegs, with foreign countries using other kinds.)

Why now? To get ready for the year-end fiscal 2025 reporting which should be coming out in a few weeks. (Made more difficult by the fact that the Treasury Department started hiding the monthly Trust Fund cash flow reports from the public last year, and made even more difficult by the shutdown.)

In the meantime, here is last year’s (FY 2024) Trust Fund situation, in one comprehensive visualization. Enjoy.