A U.S. treasury report released Tuesday shows the national debt has risen to more than $31 trillion for the first time.
The debt has been increasing for decades, but most recently, the national debt greatly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Brookings Institution, rising by $2 trillion.
Much of the annual budget deficit has decreased as a result of the easing of COVID relief funding. This financial milestone was reached despite this slowdown in spending by the federal government, according to Fox News.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) tweeted in response to the news of the latest numbers that the national debt was “$21 trillion just 5 years ago. Think about that.”
President Joe Biden has claimed that legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act will help decrease the deficit.
“Republicans talk about being fiscally responsible,” Biden said last month. “Last year, I reduced the deficit $350 billion. You know how much this year, not counting the Medicaid changes? One trillion seven hundred billion dollars. So, I don’t want to hear it from Republicans about fiscal responsibility.”
However, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said in August that the Inflation Reduction Act amounts to billions being spent, which will only “drive up inflation and prices, hammer small businesses and American manufacturing, increase the price of gas and sic the IRS on Americans, all while raising taxes on Americans in nearly every tax bracket, including those who make less than $400,000 a year.”
Regardless, Biden has contributed to the debt, much like his predecessors.
Reports suggest that Biden will add $4.8 trillion to the national debt by 2031 as a result of his executive orders and the legislation that he has signed so far.
Some $7.8 trillion was added during President Donald Trump’s tenure in office, while former President Barack Obama added $8.6 trillion by comparison.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt has the dubious honor of adding the largest amount to the national debt by percentage increase.
Jeramy Kitchen, executive director of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, told The Dallas Express, “This number marks yet another somber milestone that, unfortunately, is becoming all too regular these days. It represents us selfishly burdening future generations of Americans with less prosperity, and to make matters worse, our elected ‘leaders’ seem to have no appetite for course correction.”
Kitchen continued, “Both major political parties are at fault. … Runaway spending has consequences, however. Much of that has manifested itself in the form of historic inflation not seen in nearly 40 years, causing the costs of everyday goods to skyrocket, further burdening American families.”
