national debt

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Bad News on the National Debt
Bad News on the National Debt
Oct 23, 2025 12:00 AM CDT

Bad News on the National Debt

It's now $38T, the fastest accumulation of $1T outside of the pandemic

(Newser) - In the midst of a federal government shutdown, the US government's gross national debt surpassed $38 trillion Wednesday, a record number that highlights the accelerating accumulation of debt on America's balance sheet, the AP reports. It's also the fastest accumulation of a trillion dollars in debt outside...

Despite 2 GOP Nays, Senate Advances 'Big Beautiful Bill'

51-49 procedural vote nearly derailed the measure

(Newser) - Senate Republicans cleared a major hurdle Saturday in their bid to pass the sweeping "Big Beautiful Bill" measure crucial to President Trump's agenda. They did so by a whisker, with a procedural vote of 51-49, reports the Washington Post . Among other things, the bill seeks to extend...

House GOP Balks as Senate Rewrites Trump Tax Bill

Senate changes on Medicaid, SALT drive Republican backlash

(Newser) - House Republicans are threatening to derail a sweeping tax and immigration bill backed by President Trump and Senate GOP leaders, citing major changes to the original House version. The Senate's rewrite of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act adds deeper Medicaid cuts, which detractors warn could hurt rural...

Moody's Has Some Bad News for the US Government

Firm strips US of its top Aaa credit rating, sends it down a notch to Aa1

(Newser) - Moody's Ratings stripped the US government of its top credit rating on Friday, citing successive governments' failure to stop a rising tide of debt. Moody's lowered the rating from a gold-standard Aaa to Aa1 but said the United States "retains exceptional credit strengths such as the size,...

National Debt Sets Record No One Wants

US national debt goes above $35T for first time

(Newser) - It's a record no one is happy about: The gross national debt in the US went above $35 trillion Monday, a first. The number (which, specifically, was $35,001,278,179,208.67) was noted in the Treasury Department's daily report on America's debt, the New York ...

On National Debt Front, a 'Hard to Grasp' Number

US has exceeded $34T, a record: 'America just cannot stop borrowing'

(Newser) - In September, the United States broke its national debt record, reaching $33 trillion. Now, just three months later, a new record has been set. CNN Business notes that, per year-end figures released by the Treasury Department last month, our government's debt shot up to $34.001 trillion on Dec....

Debt Deal: True Market Relief, or a 'Short-Lived Sugar High'?

As agreement on raising debt ceiling heads to Congress, varying thoughts on what comes next

(Newser) - An agreement has been reached , at least in principle, by President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on raising the nation's debt limit, and now the final OK is in Congress' hands. Both progressive Democrats and ultra-conservatives are already pushing back on the deal , and if Biden and McCarthy...

The Picture Being Painted by Key Debt-Ceiling Players

Words 'confident' and 'optimistic' are getting used, but there's a ways to go

(Newser) - As the clock ticks down to June 1, the president and congressional leaders continue to sound off about the likelihood of striking a deal on raising the debt ceiling. President Biden held a second Oval Office meeting with House and Senate leaders Kevin McCarthy, Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, and Mitch...

Poll: If US Defaults, Neither Side Avoids Blame

Americans evenly split on whether Biden or Republicans are at fault

(Newser) - Based on a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, Americans are divided on which political party would be to blame if the federal government defaulted on its debts, reports Politico . A slight plurality of respondents—39%—would hold congressional Republicans responsible. However, the Biden administration didn't get off unscathed, as...

National Debt Hits Record $31T
National Debt Hits Record $31T
Oct 4, 2022 6:22 PM CDT

National Debt Hits Record $31T

Higher interest rates could cost country another $1T

(Newser) - The gross US national debt, which topped $30 trillion for the first time earlier this year, has now risen to more than $31 trillion, according to a Treasury Department report released Tuesday. The disclosure comes at what the New York Times calls an "inopportune time"—interest rates are...

National Debt Tops $30T for First Time

Economists aren't in agreement on how big of a deal that is

(Newser) - For the first time ever, the US' gross national debt went above $30 trillion Tuesday. That's up about $7 trillion since the end of 2019, CNN reports. The New York Times calls the milestone an "ominous" warning about America's long-term economic outlook, and notes that it was...

Schumer on Debt Ceiling Raise: Americans 'Can Breathe Easy'

Congress passes $2.5T increase, avoiding default through at least early 2023; most of GOP opposes

(Newser) - President Biden has a new bill on his desk to sign. The legislation provides for a $2.5 trillion increase in the debt ceiling, bringing that number to $31.4 trillion and avoiding a first-ever federal default right at the Wednesday deadline warned of by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, reports...

Federal Government's Interest Costs Set to Triple in 10 Years

US may soon be shoveling out more to pay for interest on debt than on Medicaid, military

(Newser) - If, in the year 2028, the US needs to fix a bridge or combat a potential recession, Uncle Sam might have to dig around in the Treasury Department's couch cushions. That's because the US is on track to need much more money to pay off interest on its...

Federal Debt Soars Past $20 Trillion
Federal Debt Soars Past $20T
Sep 12, 2017 12:59 AM CDT

Federal Debt Soars Past $20T

Fiscal conservatives are appalled

(Newser) - In a very unwelcome milestone for fiscal conservatives, the federal debt soared past $20 trillion for the first time last week, according to the latest Treasury figures. An increase after President Trump's deal with Democrats to lift the debt ceiling by $318 billion leaves America $20.16 trillion in...

Mystery Donor Pays Off $2.2M of National Debt

Record donation will cover the interest for a couple of minutes

(Newser) - A public-minded mystery donor paid off a lot more than their share of the national debt with a record $2.2 million donation in September. Treasury officials haven't released any details on the source of the donation, which brought public contributions toward the debt to a total of almost...

National Debt Grows by Record-Setting Amount

It's the biggest rise ever in a single day

(Newser) - Anyone who happened to stumble across the running tally of the national debt via the Treasury Department website would have found a familiar number for much of this year: $18.1 trillion. With that as the upper limit imposed by Congress, the Treasury had to use "extraordinary" accounting measures...

Shutdown Actually Costing Us More

 Shutdown Actually 
 Costing Us More 
OPINION
Oct 3, 2013 11:47 AM CDT

Shutdown Actually Costing Us More

'New York Times' editorial points out the hidden costs of not running government

(Newser) - You might assume that the government shutdown is at least saving money and shrinking the deficit. But you'd be wrong. "The shutdown will actually be very expensive and will wind up costing the taxpayers and the economy far more than the regular operations of government," the New ...

Economist Presents Scary US Debt Number: $70T

James Hamilton: That's the 2012 total of off-balance-sheet federal liabilities

(Newser) - If you're worried about our country's fiscal health, you may want to stop reading. A UC San Diego economics professor sees a problem area we're overlooking: "the growth of federal liabilities that are not included in the officially reported numbers." James Hamilton did the math,...

Dear DC: 7.6% Unemployment Is Not OK
Dear DC: 7.6% Unemployment Is Not OK
OPINION
Jun 10, 2013 11:18 AM CDT

Dear DC: 7.6% Unemployment Is Not OK

Paul Krugman thinks everyone's dropping the ball on employment

(Newser) - Once upon a time, back before the financial crisis, Americans had certain expectations for their economy. "Normal, back then, meant an economy adding a million or more jobs a year," and an unemployment rate "not much above 5%," recalls Paul Krugman at the New York Times...

Treasury Pays Down Debt for First Time Since Dubya

Taxes, cuts give Treasury unexpected $35B

(Newser) - Spending cuts and tax hikes have boosted the federal government's finances enough to actually pay off some debt for the first time since George W. Bush was president. The Treasury Department, which predicted earlier this year that it would end the second quarter another $103 billion deeper in debt,...

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