The U.S. gross national debt surpassed $36 trillion on Thursday, according to Treasury data, while a Federal Reserve report showed intensifying concern about America’s fiscal health and its broader implications for financial stability.
The massive debt milestone was reached just over three months after the previous $35 trillion benchmark, highlighting the rapid accumulation of federal borrowing in recent years. It comes as policymakers brace for renewed debates over spending and taxation, with the incoming Trump administration and the 119th Congress having to contend with the nation’s fiscal trajectory.
“As if lawmakers needed any other reasons to take America’s fiscal health seriously, the gross national debt of the United States has now officially reached $36 trillion,” Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), said in a statement. “Government borrowing is becoming as certain as the changing of the seasons these days.”…