Cost of Living, Housing & Economy
Federal Debt & Deficits
$38T and counting, with interest now rivaling the defense budget. Every dollar of interest is a dollar that can't defend, build, or stay in your pocket.
The Stakes
A young couple signs a 30-year mortgage and, on the same day, quietly co-signs a far larger note they never saw — their share of a national debt now past $38 trillion. It isn't an abstraction. When the government borrows trillions, it competes with that couple for credit, pushes up the rates on their loan, and commits their future taxes to paying interest on money already spent. The bill comes due as higher prices, higher rates, and fewer choices for the next generation.
The Receipts
Every figure cites a primary federal source. Tap a chip to check it yourself.
~$38T+Gross national debt crossed $38 trillion in late 2025 and has continued climbing past it.
Treasury / FiscalData ↗~$1.8T deficitThe federal government recently spent on the order of $1.8 trillion more than it collected in a single year.
Treasury / FiscalData ↗Interest > $1TNet interest on the debt surpassed $1 trillion for the first time, making debt service one of the largest single items in the budget.
Treasury / FiscalData ↗Interest > DefenseCBO projects net interest costs to exceed national defense outlays across the coming decade.
CBO ↗Debt held by public near recordDebt held by the public is on track to surpass its all-time peak as a share of the economy within years on the current path.
CBO ↗Their Best Argument — and Why It Fails
The steelman
Debt isn't inherently bad — the U.S. borrows in its own currency, much of the buildup came from necessary crisis response (the pandemic, two recessions), and the right metric is debt relative to a growing economy, not the raw number. Borrowing to invest in infrastructure, research, and defense can pay for itself, and austerity in a downturn would do more harm than the debt.
The rebuttal
Borrowing for genuine emergencies is defensible; the problem is that the deficit stayed near $2 trillion in a full-employment, non-recession economy — that's structural, not cyclical. The currency argument doesn't repeal arithmetic: interest is now real cash out the door, over a trillion dollars a year, and CBO projects it to outpace the entire defense budget. That is money that can't fund the military, cut taxes, or shore up Social Security — it just services the past. Even on the debt-to-GDP measure, the trajectory blows past the World War II record with no war to show for it. The honest fix is to grow the economy faster than the debt and stop running emergency deficits in ordinary years.
The Conservative Fix
- 1
Pass statutory spending caps tied to economic growth, enforced by automatic sequestration if breached.
Federal - 2
Stand up a binding fiscal commission to put mandatory spending — the actual driver — on a sustainable path.
Federal - 3
Score every major bill against the debt and require an offset for new spending.
Federal - 4
Prioritize pro-growth tax and regulatory policy so the economy outgrows the debt rather than chasing it.
Federal
Answer the Muster
Who decides this: Your U.S. House member and Senators
I'm a constituent in [district]. The national debt is past $38 trillion and we're now paying more in interest than we spend on defense. I'm asking [Official] to support enforceable spending caps and an offset rule so new spending is paid for. Can you tell me whether [Official] will vote to control the deficit even when it's politically hard?