The U.S. debt tops a record-shattering $40 trillion. Yes, with a T.

In practice, the U.S. Debt tops a record-shattering $40 trillion The federal debt reached $40 trillion as the administration adds red ink at a rapid rate.

Key points

• "President Trump pledged to clean up Joe Biden's fiscal mismanagement, " White House spokesman Kush Desai remarked in an official note.
• The average rate on a 30-year mortgage neared 6.7% last week, according to Freddie Mac.
• "Our current fiscal trajectory is plainly unsustainable, and that's the best-case scenario, " remarked Margaret Spellings, president of the Bipartisan Policy Center.
• The federal government's accumulated debt has reached a record $40 trillion, according to a daily update from the Treasury Department.
• The news, documented by the Treasury Department in its daily financial update, comes just five months after the debt surpassed $39 trillion.

Notably, the U.S. Debt tops a record-shattering $40 trillion. Yes, with a T.

Notably, the U.S. Debt tops a record-shattering $40 trillion. Yes, with a T. Audio will be available afterwards today.

For context, the federal government's accumulated debt has reached a record $40 trillion, according to a daily update from the Treasury Department. Administration spending is anticipated to exceed tax revenues by more than $2 trillion this year. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images North America hide caption. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images North America.

Notably, the federal debt topped $40 trillion Wednesday, a new high-water mark for red ink that demonstrates no sign of receding.

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Notably, the news, documented by the Treasury Department in its daily financial update, comes just five months after the debt surpassed $39 trillion. As spending outstrips revenue by more than $2 trillion a year, the administration continues to pile up debt at a rapid clip.

"Our current fiscal trajectory is plainly unsustainable, and that's the best-case scenario, " remarked Margaret Spellings, president of the Bipartisan Policy Center. "Even in the rosiest scenarios, we're speeding toward a cliff and refusing to turn the wheel."

Notably, the deficit widened further after the Supreme Court struck down plenty of of President Trump's tariffs, forcing the Treasury to refund more than $100 billion in import taxes that were collected illegally. The administration sought to blame the ballooning deficit on Democrats.

"President Trump pledged to clean up Joe Biden's fiscal mismanagement, " White House spokesman Kush Desai remarked in an official note. "That's why the Trump administration has been focused on slashing waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending while accelerating economic growth to get America's debt-to-GDP ratio trending in the right direction again."

Administration revenues have grown 3% this fiscal year – but spending has grown even faster. And the debt-to-GDP ratio has worsened since Trump returned to the White House.

In practice, the administration is spending more than a trillion dollars a year just to pay interest on the mounting debt. Interest is now the government's second biggest expense, trailing only Social Security.

Interest costs in the first ten months of this fiscal year were 15% higher than they were in the same period a year ago. That reflects not only the growing debt but additionally the higher interest rates that investors are now demanding so as to keep lending the administration funds.

In practice, the yield on 30-year Treasuries reached a 19-year high this week. Since mortgage rates and other interest rates often follow long-term Treasuries, that raises borrowing costs for everyone else. Why Congress rarely pushes back when presidents deploy military force.

Meanwhile, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage neared 6.7% last week, according to Freddie Mac.

"Federal debt is already raising the cost of living and choking out other spending and investment, threatening our economy and Americans' long-term prosperity, " Spellings remarked. So far, Congress has shown little appetite for tacking the difficulty.

"$40 trillion should be a wake up call. But neither Congress nor the president have a credible plan to stop it from growing, " remarked Carolyn Bourdeaux, executive director of Concord Action, a group that advocates for fiscal responsibility. "We owe the next generation better than this crushing debt and another hollow promise that someone else will deal with it later."

For now, the U.S. Debt tops a record-shattering $40 trillion. Yes, with a T remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.