America’s national debt just hit a mind-boggling $37 trillion. This is the highest it’s ever been, and it’s putting more pressure on the country’s finances and on taxpayers.
The number comes from the latest Treasury Department report, released Tuesday, which keeps track of the government’s money day by day.
This number came much sooner than expected
That $37 trillion mark wasn’t supposed to show up until around 2030, at least according to early 2020 projections from the Congressional Budget Office.
But things sped up, and the debt got here years ahead of schedule.
The pandemic pushed borrowing into overdrive
One big reason was the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting in 2020, the crisis basically froze much of the U.S. economy.
The government had to borrow heavily under both then-President Donald Trump and later President Joe Biden to keep things afloat and try to kickstart a recovery.
Spending keeps getting approved
More recently, more spending got the green light after Trump signed off on the Republicans’ tax cut and spending package earlier this year.
The Congressional Budget Office says that law alone could add another $4.1 trillion to the debt over the next ten years.
Experts warn about the ripple effects
Michael Peterson, chair and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, said government borrowing puts upward pressure on interest rates, “adding costs for everyone and reducing private sector investment.
“Within the federal budget, the debt crowds out important priorities and creates a damaging cycle of more borrowing, more interest costs, and even more borrowing.”
Congress plays a huge role in how this plays out
Wendy Edelberg, a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, pointed out that Congress has a big say in spending and tax policy.
She said the Republicans’ tax law “means that we’re going to borrow a lot over the course of 2026, we’re going to borrow a lot over the course of 2027, and it’s just going to keep going.”
The Government Accountability Office says higher debt can hit regular people in several ways. Pricier mortgages and car loans, smaller paychecks because businesses have less money to invest, and higher prices on everyday goods.
Debt milestones are flying by
Peterson says these trillion-dollar jumps are “piling up at a rapid rate.”
In January 2024, the total was $34 trillion. By July, it hit $35 trillion. In November, it climbed to $36 trillion.
RELATED STORIES
“We are now adding a trillion more to the national debt every 5 months,” Peterson said. “That’s more than twice as fast as the average rate over the last 25 years.”
The next trillion is not far away
The Joint Economic Committee estimates that if things keep moving at the same pace, another trillion will be added in about 173 days.
Some hope this is the wake-up call policymakers need
Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said in a statement that “hopefully this milestone is enough to wake up policymakers to the reality that we need to do something, and we need to do it quickly.”
