Social safety-net, military and tax-cut costs strain federal budgets
The US Treasury Department’s daily cash and debt balances statement, released Wednesday, showed total public debt outstanding at $40.047 trillion on Tuesday, the first time the gross national debt has crossed the $40 trillion threshold. The Guardian described the crossing as another troubling milestone in the wake of decades of borrowing to fund government spending.
The Guardian attributes the continued rise in federal debt to escalating costs of social safety-net programs, the military and Donald Trump’s tax cuts straining US federal government budgets. The Treasury’s daily statement is the standard mechanism for disclosing total public debt outstanding.
The Guardian reported that the disclosure is likely to escalate fears of a brewing US fiscal crisis. The publication marked the article as a developing story at the time of the Treasury statement, with additional details to follow.