Gross national debt topped $32 trillion for the first time on Friday, underscoring the nation’s troubling fiscal trajectory as Washington prepares for another fight over government spending.
A Treasury report marked the milestone weeks later Congress agreed to suspend the legal limit of the national debt and thus end the one-month hiatus.
The $32 trillion figure arrived nine years earlier than pre-pandemic forecasts, reflecting trillions of dollars in extraordinary spending to deal with the impact of Covid-19, along with a string of sluggish economic growth.
Republicans and Democrats have expressed concern about the national debt, but neither party has shown an appetite for addressing its biggest drivers, such as spending on Social Security and health care.
A recent bipartisan agreement to suspend the debt limit for two years cuts federal spending by $1.5 trillion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, by essentially freezing some funding that was expected to increase next year and then cut spending to grow by 1 percent. 2025. But the debt is on its way to $50 trillion by the end of the decade even after taking into account the newly approved spending cuts.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said during the May debate that spending cuts proposed by lawmakers failed to address the costs of social safety net programs. While avoiding default would prevent an immediate crisis, he said, the mounting debt is an ongoing problem that needs to be addressed.
“The nation’s long-term fiscal problems persist,” Zandi said.
This week the House Appropriations Committee she began to consider her next expenses and, to placate the ultraconservative wing of the Republican majority, indicated that he would fund federal agencies at lower levels than President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy had agreed to.
Failure to approve and reconcile the House and Senate bills by October 1 could lead to a government shutdown. And if individual bills are not approved by the end of the year, an automatic 1 percent reduction will apply.
At the same time, House Republicans began considering a new round of tax cuts this week. The bill would expand the standard deduction for individual taxpayers and some business tax benefits that are designed to encourage investment while limiting energy tax credits. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which advocates lower spending levels, estimates the proposed legislation would cost $80 billion over ten years, or $1.1 trillion if the measures were permanent.
Some have called on Congress to create a bipartisan fiscal commission to address the long-term drivers of the national debt.
“As we hurtle toward $32 trillion with no end in sight, it is long past time to address the fundamental drivers of our debt, which are the growth of mandated spending and the lack of sufficient revenue to fund it,” said Michael A. Peterson, Director executive director of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which supports deficit reduction.
The Peterson Foundation expressed concern over projections that show the United States will add $127 trillion in debt over the next 30 years, and that interest costs will consume nearly 40 percent of all federal revenue by 2053.
Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen defended the Biden administration’s handling of the nation’s finances. House Financial Services Committee hearing this weekwith the White House releasing a $3 trillion deficit-reducing budget this year. She also told the panel that interest rates are likely to fall in the medium term, making the debt burden more manageable.
The Treasury Secretary indicated that the tax policy promoted by the Republicans would worsen the fiscal situation.
“They would benefit wealthy individuals and corporations and do nothing for working families,” Ms. Yellen said. “It doesn’t pay for it and it would add to the debt.”