The Treasury Department reported Tuesday that the U.S. national debt has surpassed $37 trillion, according to the Associated Press. It’s a record number that underscores America’s accelerating debt and rising cost pressures on taxpayers.
The national debt’s eclipse of $37 million came years sooner than pre-pandemic projections. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected in January 2020 that gross federal debt would exceed $37 trillion after fiscal year 2030.
Debt grew faster than expected as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down much of the U.S. economy and was followed by heavy federal government borrowing under then-President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden to stabilize the national economy and support recovery.
Additional government spending has now been approved, with Trump recently signing into law Republicans’ tax cut and spending legislation. It would add $4.1 trillion to the U.S. national debt over the next decade, the CBO estimates.
