GOP, Democrats lament $40 trillion debt as Congress struggles to act
The Hill reports:
BY SUDIKSHA KOCHI AND HELEN HUISKES
Lawmakers are sounding the alarm over the nation’s $40 trillion debt, lamenting Congress’s inability to meaningfully confront a problem that has grown increasingly difficult to ignore.
Both parties have spent years trying to tackle the rising debt.
Republicans have frequently pointed to federal spending and entitlement programs as the main drivers, while Democrats have emphasized the need for higher taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations alongside spending reforms.
But efforts to reach a broader deal have repeatedly stalled as both parties have balked at the politically painful trade-offs needed to put the nation on a more sustainable fiscal path.
After the debt officially hit $40 trillion Wednesday, lawmakers took to social media to argue for policies that would soothe the debt. The milestone figure comes after years of federal borrowing that accelerated during the pandemic and remained elevated as Congress continued to approve large spending packages and tax policies.
“This is bad,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said in a post on social platform X. “Congress needs to get spending under control and BALANCE THE BUDGET.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a fiscal conservative like Scott, also blamed politicians for not balancing the federal budget.
“Instead of paying for things as we go, Washington spends and spends,” Paul said. “You and your family make a budget and live by it. Washington should as well.”
Members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, who typically advocate for spending cuts, also quickly called for Congress to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse in federal spending.
“America’s national debt has officially crossed a line that should alarm every single American. This is not just another number. It is a flashing warning sign that Washington’s reckless, unchecked spending is putting the future of our country, and generations of Americans, at risk,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the caucus, wrote in a post online.
“We cannot tax our way out of this. We cannot keep borrowing our way out of this. Congress MUST find the backbone to make the tough decisions, rein in spending, and get our fiscal house in order,” he added.
Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), in a post on X, called the debt problem “immoral” and called for legislation like the Fiscal Commission Act, which would establish a commission on fiscal responsibility and reform in the federal government. Curtis said this would be “a good start.”
“Our reckless spending problem in Washington is immoral—it unfairly leaves our children and grandchildren to foot the bill—but it also is making our economic stability extremely fragile,” Curtis said. “The more we add to our debt, the greater the threat of disaster in the event of an economic shock.”
Republicans are weighing a third reconciliation package that will likely only add to concerns about the nation’s debt trajectory.
The package President Trump and GOP leaders are hoping to pass includes $73 billion in defense and intelligence funding, $12 billion for agriculture aid and $10 billion for a fund aimed at incentivizing states to adopt Trump-backed voting restrictions, for a total of $95 billion.
The Senate has yet to pass a blueprint of the bill, but it doesn’t include offsets, as of right now — a concern that has been aired by fiscal hawks.
Democrats, meanwhile, took the opportunity to hammer Republicans on the reconciliation bill they muscled through Congress last year, dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Democrats argue that legislation only contributed to the rising deficit.
“Last year, many of us warned that Trump’s reckless budget bill would increase the deficit by trillions — including increasing debt-service costs by $687 billion over the next decade. Those warnings were ignored. And the national debt has now hit $40 trillion,” Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) said.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who recently lost his primary, posted in a similar vein, criticizing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for its effect on the debt.
“If you voted for the Big Beautiful Bill, please don’t get on here and express righteous indignation that the debt is now $40 trillion,” Massie wrote. “Anyone with a room temperature IQ knew that cutting taxes and increasing spending was going to balloon the deficit.”
The minority party also blamed Trump’s ongoing military operation with Iran.
“$40 trillion. For a President and a Republican Party who have railed for years against the nation’s debt, it’s ironic that America is deeper than ever in the red under their leadership. From Trump’s billionaire tax cuts to his war with Iran, it’s clear fiscal responsibility is the last thing on his mind,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said online.
Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) also pointed the finger at Trump.
“Reminder that of the $40 trillion in debt racked up over the course of 250 years and 47 presidents, nearly 30% of it ($11.52 trillion) was added by just one man, Donald Trump, over the course of just a few years,” he said in a post. “Republicans still INSIST that they’re the ones for fiscal responsibility.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told “Squawk on the Street” co-host Sara Eisen on CNBC Thursday that he thinks the U.S. can “grow” its way out of the $40 trillion debt.
“But what we do want to signal is I think there’s been a lot of misinformation in terms of what’s going on with the deficit, what’s going on with the deficit to GDP [gross domestic product],” he added.
Bessent said a temporary aspect of the debt is the tariff refunds mandated by the Supreme Court in its ruling in February against Trump’s emergency tariffs. Bessent said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will implement “the same level of tariffs, and I would expect that our 2026 tariff income is going to be roughly what it was in ’25.”
“But with the Section 301 tariffs, I am confident that we will be back to … the same level if not higher of tariff income for last year,” Bessent later told reporters in front of the White House, where he claimed that despite the $40 trillion milestone, it’s smaller when looking at publicly traded amounts.
My comments:
In 2016, Donald Trump called himself the King of Debt. 10 years later and he's added $11.6 trillion to the national debt. Another title he has not claimed, but would be equally fitting is: The King of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse.
Then we have incompetent, lying, and down right stupid Bessent.
And every single Republican who voted for Demented Donnie’s Bloated, Obscene, Wasteful Farce of a Bill!
Thank God there’s a BLUE WAVE coming in November.
It’s no coincidence tRUMP’s tanking in all the polls but especially on the economy, affordability, and his outrageously expensive illegal and unpopular war!
BY SUDIKSHA KOCHI AND HELEN HUISKES
Lawmakers are sounding the alarm over the nation’s $40 trillion debt, lamenting Congress’s inability to meaningfully confront a problem that has grown increasingly difficult to ignore.
Both parties have spent years trying to tackle the rising debt.
Republicans have frequently pointed to federal spending and entitlement programs as the main drivers, while Democrats have emphasized the need for higher taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations alongside spending reforms.
But efforts to reach a broader deal have repeatedly stalled as both parties have balked at the politically painful trade-offs needed to put the nation on a more sustainable fiscal path.
After the debt officially hit $40 trillion Wednesday, lawmakers took to social media to argue for policies that would soothe the debt. The milestone figure comes after years of federal borrowing that accelerated during the pandemic and remained elevated as Congress continued to approve large spending packages and tax policies.
“This is bad,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said in a post on social platform X. “Congress needs to get spending under control and BALANCE THE BUDGET.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a fiscal conservative like Scott, also blamed politicians for not balancing the federal budget.
“Instead of paying for things as we go, Washington spends and spends,” Paul said. “You and your family make a budget and live by it. Washington should as well.”
Members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, who typically advocate for spending cuts, also quickly called for Congress to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse in federal spending.
“America’s national debt has officially crossed a line that should alarm every single American. This is not just another number. It is a flashing warning sign that Washington’s reckless, unchecked spending is putting the future of our country, and generations of Americans, at risk,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the caucus, wrote in a post online.
“We cannot tax our way out of this. We cannot keep borrowing our way out of this. Congress MUST find the backbone to make the tough decisions, rein in spending, and get our fiscal house in order,” he added.
Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), in a post on X, called the debt problem “immoral” and called for legislation like the Fiscal Commission Act, which would establish a commission on fiscal responsibility and reform in the federal government. Curtis said this would be “a good start.”
“Our reckless spending problem in Washington is immoral—it unfairly leaves our children and grandchildren to foot the bill—but it also is making our economic stability extremely fragile,” Curtis said. “The more we add to our debt, the greater the threat of disaster in the event of an economic shock.”
Republicans are weighing a third reconciliation package that will likely only add to concerns about the nation’s debt trajectory.
The package President Trump and GOP leaders are hoping to pass includes $73 billion in defense and intelligence funding, $12 billion for agriculture aid and $10 billion for a fund aimed at incentivizing states to adopt Trump-backed voting restrictions, for a total of $95 billion.
The Senate has yet to pass a blueprint of the bill, but it doesn’t include offsets, as of right now — a concern that has been aired by fiscal hawks.
Democrats, meanwhile, took the opportunity to hammer Republicans on the reconciliation bill they muscled through Congress last year, dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Democrats argue that legislation only contributed to the rising deficit.
“Last year, many of us warned that Trump’s reckless budget bill would increase the deficit by trillions — including increasing debt-service costs by $687 billion over the next decade. Those warnings were ignored. And the national debt has now hit $40 trillion,” Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) said.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who recently lost his primary, posted in a similar vein, criticizing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for its effect on the debt.
“If you voted for the Big Beautiful Bill, please don’t get on here and express righteous indignation that the debt is now $40 trillion,” Massie wrote. “Anyone with a room temperature IQ knew that cutting taxes and increasing spending was going to balloon the deficit.”
The minority party also blamed Trump’s ongoing military operation with Iran.
“$40 trillion. For a President and a Republican Party who have railed for years against the nation’s debt, it’s ironic that America is deeper than ever in the red under their leadership. From Trump’s billionaire tax cuts to his war with Iran, it’s clear fiscal responsibility is the last thing on his mind,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said online.
Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) also pointed the finger at Trump.
“Reminder that of the $40 trillion in debt racked up over the course of 250 years and 47 presidents, nearly 30% of it ($11.52 trillion) was added by just one man, Donald Trump, over the course of just a few years,” he said in a post. “Republicans still INSIST that they’re the ones for fiscal responsibility.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told “Squawk on the Street” co-host Sara Eisen on CNBC Thursday that he thinks the U.S. can “grow” its way out of the $40 trillion debt.
“But what we do want to signal is I think there’s been a lot of misinformation in terms of what’s going on with the deficit, what’s going on with the deficit to GDP [gross domestic product],” he added.
Bessent said a temporary aspect of the debt is the tariff refunds mandated by the Supreme Court in its ruling in February against Trump’s emergency tariffs. Bessent said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will implement “the same level of tariffs, and I would expect that our 2026 tariff income is going to be roughly what it was in ’25.”
“But with the Section 301 tariffs, I am confident that we will be back to … the same level if not higher of tariff income for last year,” Bessent later told reporters in front of the White House, where he claimed that despite the $40 trillion milestone, it’s smaller when looking at publicly traded amounts.
My comments:
In 2016, Donald Trump called himself the King of Debt. 10 years later and he's added $11.6 trillion to the national debt. Another title he has not claimed, but would be equally fitting is: The King of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse.
Then we have incompetent, lying, and down right stupid Bessent.
And every single Republican who voted for Demented Donnie’s Bloated, Obscene, Wasteful Farce of a Bill!
Thank God there’s a BLUE WAVE coming in November.
It’s no coincidence tRUMP’s tanking in all the polls but especially on the economy, affordability, and his outrageously expensive illegal and unpopular war!
