WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. government’s budget deficit surged to an all-time high of $1.7 trillion for the first six months of this budget year. That’s nearly double the previous record, as another round of economic-support checks added billions of dollars to spending last month. In its monthly budget report, the Treasury Department said Monday that the deficit for the first half of the budget year – from October through March – was up from a deficit of $743.5 billion for the same period a year ago. The budget report showed that the deficit for just March totaled $659.6 billion, the third-highest monthly deficit.