The US national debt has reached a new record of $35 trillion, with $1 trillion in borrowing added this year alone.
The US House Budget Committee announced on Monday that the US has reached a new milestone with its national debt exceeding $35 trillion.
Committee Chair Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) called this a “concerning milestone,” urging greater fiscal responsibility and spending control to address the ballooning national debt.
“Today, we mark another troubling milestone in the fiscal decline of the most powerful and prosperous nation in history,” Arrington stated, expressing hope that the Republican Party can help alleviate the situation if Donald Trump wins the November election.
I believe Republican leadership in 2025 is our last best hope to restore fiscal responsibility before it’s too late.
The US national debt has surged in recent years under both President Joe Biden and his predecessor, President Trump, who repeatedly pledged to reduce it during his 2016 campaign.
When Trump left office, the debt had increased by $8.4 trillion to $27.7 trillion, with over half of the borrowing attributed to COVID-related measures. The trend continued under Biden, with the incumbent president now pushing past the $35 trillion mark. While borrowing rates slowed somewhat during the first half of Biden’s term compared to the Trump era, they have accelerated, with the US adding another $1 trillion to its debt this year alone.
According to the House Budget Committee’s calculations, the debt now equates to $104,497 per person, $266,275 per household, and a staggering $483,889 per American child. Over the past 12 months, the debt has increased by $2.35 trillion, with the rate of increase equivalent to $74,401 in new debt every second.
The persistent “misalignment” of US fiscal policy was strongly criticized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) late last month, with the organization calling Washington’s budget deficit and debt rates a “growing risk” for the entire global economy.
“Such high deficits and debt create a growing risk to the US and global economy, potentially feeding into higher fiscal financing costs and a growing risk to the smooth rollover of maturing obligations,” the IMF said in a statement, adding that “these chronic fiscal deficits represent a significant and persistent policy misalignment that needs to be urgently addressed.”