The U.S. government’s gross national debt surpassed $38 trillion on Wednesday—just two months after it reached $37 trillion—which comes as the government continues to navigate the federal shutdown .
This marks the fastest single-year accumulation of $1 trillion in debt outside of the emergency government spending during the COVID-19 pandemic and has prompted concerns about economic stability, borrowing costs, and long-term impacts on American citizens.
Why It Matters
The amount of national debt, and the speed at which it’s accumulating, are raising urgent questions about America’s fiscal health and the sustainability of current federal policies, as the government battles with internal political gridlock during the second-longest government shutdown in U.S. history. For Americans, th