US national debt is $31 trillion. passed For the first time in history.
Treasury Department data released on Tuesday showed the total national debt stood at $31.123 trillion as of Monday.
The new milestone was reached even as the federal government’s insatiable spending slowed significantly as the COVID-19 pandemic eased. In the months following the outbreak, the national debt increased by $1 trillion in just a month’s time – not just once but twice in 2020.
As a result, the federal government spent $3.1 trillion more than it received in 2020, and $2.8 trillion more than it received the following year.
In 2022, budget deficit It is expected to be around $1 trillion. Some experts believe the $1 trillion per year in new debt is accompanied by an increase in eligibility spending, as well as the new spending priorities set by Congress this year. Those priorities include health and environmental policy bills known as inflation reduction act and assisting Ukraine in the war with Russia.
While most of the decline in the annual budget deficit is due to easing emergency COVID spending, President Biden has said praised his administration To slow down the rate at which the government collects new debt.
“You know, Republicans talk about being financially responsible,” Biden said in September. “Last year, I reduced the deficit by $350 billion. You know how much this year, not counting Medicaid changes? One trillion seven hundred billion dollars. So, I don’t want to hear it from Republicans about fiscal responsibility. ,
Republicans have been arguing for several weeks that voters are ready for lower federal spending, which they say is a major contributor to higher inflation levels, and they have also said the issue should be to give Congress GOP control in the midterm elections. is a reason.
In August, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act amounted to hundreds of billions in new spending that “will drive up inflation and prices, affect small businesses and U.S. manufacturing, raise the price of gas.” The IRS on Americans, raising taxes on Americans in nearly every tax bracket, including those who make less than $400,000 a year.
Moments after the Treasury released the new number, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) tweeted that the national debt was “$21 trillion just 5 years ago. Thinking about that.”
“This is what happens when congressional Democrats engage in uncontrolled partisan spending – and hardworking Americans are paying the price,” said Rep. James Baird (R-Ind). “The American people deserve better.”