Read the chart.

\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
& Program & Amount (Billions) & Percentage \\
\hline
\multirow{3}{*}{} & Social Security & \[tex]$1,046 & 23.5\% \\
\hline
& Medicare & \$[/tex]625 & 14.8\% \\
\hline
& Medicaid & \[tex]$412 & 9.3\% \\
\hline
\multirow{3}{*}{} & Defense Dept. & \$[/tex]546 & 12.9\% \\
\hline
& Dept. of Veterans Affairs & \[tex]$75 & 1.9\% \\
\hline
& Human/Health Svcs. & \$[/tex]74 & 1.8\% \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

In 2017, the government spent the least amount of money on which discretionary spending category?

A. Department of Defense
B. Health and Human Services Department
C. Social Security
D. Emergency funding



Answer :

To address the question regarding which discretionary spending category the government spent the least amount of money on in 2017, let's examine the given chart. The chart shows the three discretionary spending categories: "Department of Defense," "Department of Veterans Affairs," and "Human/Health Services."

Below is a summary of the spending amounts for these categories:
1. Department of Defense: \[tex]$546 Billion 2. Department of Veterans Affairs: \$[/tex]75 Billion
3. Human/Health Services: \[tex]$74 Billion Among these, the "Human/Health Services" category has the smallest spending amount, at \$[/tex]74 Billion.

Thus, in 2017, the government spent the least amount of money on the Health and Human Services Department discretionary spending category.