Data from the Treasury Department revealed that the government’s gross national debt has hit $34 trillion.
The number has come several years earlier than projected, as $34 trillion was expected to be the gross federal debt in 2029.
Fox Business reported that the federal government’s borrowing costs are expected to triple in the next decade.
“Payments are expected to triple from nearly $475 billion in fiscal year 2022 to a stunning $1.4 trillion in 2032. By 2053, the interest payments are projected to surge to $5.4 trillion,” according to the outlet.
CEO of the Peterson Foundation, Michael Peterson, said in a statement, “We are beginning a new year, but our national debt remains on the same damaging and unsustainable path. Following last year’s debt ceiling deal, we quickly crossed $32 trillion in June, $33 trillion in September, and now we are soaring past $34 trillion. Looking ahead, debt will continue to skyrocket as the Treasury expects to borrow nearly $1 trillion more by the end of March. Adding trillion after trillion in debt, year after year, should be a flashing red warning sign to any policymaker who cares about the future of our country.”
He explained that the debt rises due to “an aging population, high healthcare costs, rising interest costs, and a tax system that doesn’t fund what we’ve promised.”
Peterson noted that Medicare and Social Security will “both face the depletion of their trust funds within a decade.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) warned that the “national debt is the greatest threat to America’s national security, and the current addiction to reckless spending cannot be sustained.”
“Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have a responsibility to reduce spending and finally put America on path towards fiscal sanity,” he said.
The national debt is equal to about $100,000 for every person in the United States.
White House Assistant Press Secretary Michael Kikukawa blamed Republicans for the debt, saying, “This is the trickle-down debt — driven overwhelmingly by repeated Republican giveaways skewed to big corporations and the wealthy.”
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), however, blamed the Biden administration, sharing on X, “It took @JoeBiden just 105 days (Sept. 15-Dec. 29) to dig American taxpayers another TRILLION deeper into debt.”
“When Biden took office, the national debt was $27 trillion. Today it’s $34 trillion,” he continued. “He is destroying our country with his reckless spending.”
