US national debt has surged over $34 trillion for the first time in history, according to fiscal dat
US national debt has surged over $34 trillion for the first time in history, according to fiscal data published by the Department of the Treasury.
As of December 29, 2023, the US national debt reached $34,001,493,655,565.48 for the first time in the history of the United States, the data showed on Tuesday.
On December 28, the US national debt stood at $33,911,227,723,170 and the Biden administration took just one day to increase the national debt by almost $100 billion, according to the data.
However, earlier findings by the Congressional Budget Office indicated that the national debt would nearly double in scale over the next 30 years.
Michael Peterson, the CEO of Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a financial firm founded by the Nixon-era secretary of commerce, noted in a statement that regardless of the new year, the US' national debt standing "remains on the same damaging and unsustainable path."
"Following last year’s debt ceiling deal, we quickly crossed $32 trillion in June, $33 trillion in September, and now we are soaring past $34 trillion," he said.
"Looking ahead, debt will continue to skyrocket as the Treasury expects to borrow nearly $1 trillion more by the end of March. Adding trillion after trillion in debt, year after year, should be a flashing red warning sign to any policymaker who cares about the future of our country.
The latest comes months after the Biden administration managed a deal with Republicans to raise the US' national debt ceiling as a means to avoid a default, a bid that will last through January 2025. The debt level further comes on the heels of Congress' efforts to clear additional bills to fund the government.
Forecasters had previously underscored that the national debt surpassed the $34 trillion mark years earlier than expected as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic fallout.
