The U.S. national debt exceeded $34 trillion for the first time last week, according to new data released by the Treasury Department.
Total public debt outstanding reached $34.001 trillion on Friday, just over three months since it first crossed the $33 trillion mark.
The latest milestone in the national debt comes as Congress faces further spending deadlines when it returns in the new year after narrowly avoiding two government shutdowns last fall.
Under the stopgap measure passed in November, funding for four federal agencies is scheduled to expire on January 19, and funding for the remaining agencies will expire two weeks later on February 2. .
The mounting debt mountain has been a recurring source of tension in recent fights over government funding, including a standoff over borrowing limits last spring.
Although President Biden and House Republicans ultimately reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling days before the US defaulted, Fitch Ratings downgraded the country's credit rating from “AAA'' to “AA+'' in August. Ta.
The rating agency cited America's growing debt burden and repeated partisan battles over the debt ceiling in its decision.
“In Fitch's view, standards of governance, including on fiscal and debt issues, have declined steadily over the past two decades,” Fitch said at the time.
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