US National Debt Passes $40 Trillion Milestone, Doubling in Under a Decade
Should Congress prioritize cutting the deficit now, even if it means politically unpopular spending cuts or tax increases? The US national debt topped $40 trillion for the first time this month, according to Treasury Department data reported August 19. The figure has doubled from $19.95 trillion in January 2017, when Donald Trump was first sworn in, and comes just five months after the debt crossed $39 trillion. The debt now works out to roughly $117,000 per person and $297,000 per household, and the debt-to-GDP ratio sits near 123 percent, one of the highest burdens among major economies.
Interest payments on the debt are on track to exceed $1 trillion this year for the first time, more than the government spends on national defense. The Treasury also reported the fourth-highest monthly deficit in US history in July, $432 billion, driven partly by refunds of tariffs the courts struck down. Borrowing this year is tied to military spending, the 2025 tax cuts, and rising interest costs on debt already owed. Congress raised the debt ceiling by $5 trillion last year in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, setting a new limit of $41.1 trillion that lawmakers will likely need to revisit around mid-2027.
All three major credit rating agencies, S&P, Fitch, and Moody's, have downgraded US debt over the past 15 years, each citing Washington's failure to address the trajectory. Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso and Rep. Greg Steube have introduced the Dollar-for-Dollar Deficit Reduction Act, which would tie any future debt ceiling increase to matching spending cuts, but the bill has not attracted a single Democratic cosponsor and has not been scheduled for a vote.
Arguments for:
Interest payments now outpace defense spending and are growing faster than the economy, creating what fiscal watchdogs call a self-reinforcing cycle of borrowing to cover past borrowing.
Repeated credit downgrades signal real market risk, and continued inaction could eventually push up borrowing costs for the government, businesses, and consumers alike.
The per-household debt burden, now near $297,000, makes the scale of the problem concrete rather than abstract, and delaying action shifts the cost onto future generations.
Arguments against:
Voters consistently oppose the specific trade-offs deficit reduction requires, like cuts to Social Security and Medicare or higher taxes, making austerity politically unworkable regardless of which party is in charge.
Some economists argue that debt sustainability hinges more on economic growth and interest rate trends than the raw dollar total, and that abrupt spending cuts risk slowing growth further.
Both parties have driven the debt up for decades, Republicans through tax cuts and Democrats through spending priorities, suggesting one-sided cuts won't fix a problem neither side has been willing to fully own.
What's your take?
Should Congress prioritize cutting the deficit now, even if it means politically unpopular spending cuts or tax increases? Yes 
No 
Other 
Sources:
The Hill: GOP, Democrats lament $40 trillion debt
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