Washington, D.C. – As the U.S. national debt surpasses $38 trillion, House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) issued the following statement to sound the alarm on what he calls “the United States’ next great war”:
“America is now $38,000,000,000,000–yes, $38 trillion—in debt. To put it in perspective, that’s twice the entire economic output of the European Union, more than twenty times Great Britain’s annual budget, and a crushing $500,000 burden for every young American under 18.
“The national debt is the United States’ next great war. If we lose it, we lose America’s leadership in the world and our children’s future.
“But, if we are able to muster the national courage to responsibly intervene, America will lead the 21st century. Reverse the Curse!” – Chairman Arrington.
Background:
America is on an unsustainable fiscal path. In 1982, the national debt hit the $1 trillion milestone. Twenty-six years later, in 2008, the $10 trillion mark was surpassed. Our last milestone, $30 trillion in debt, was reached in 2022. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the gross debt is projected to surpass $40 trillion in 2027, just five years after reaching the $30 trillion mark.
Reckless fiscal policy has contributed to this worsening trajectory. Federal outlays have increased nearly 60 percent since 2019. As deficits grow due to spending, increasing the existing debt, interest payments rise. Net interest spending has increased 158 percent since 2019 and now consumes nearly a fifth of all revenues.
This means that nearly one in five dollars that taxpayers send to Washington buys nothing of value.
This year, Republicans passed into law the largest reduction in mandatory spending in U.S. history—by two-fold. H.R. 1 implemented generational reforms to reduce cradle-to-grave reliance on the federal government and responsibly slowed the growth of spending in health care and welfare. But even with these historic reforms, more must be done to rein in Washington’s spending addiction to prevent our nation from going over a fiscal cliff.
The House Budget Committee continues to push for further meaningful reforms that restore fiscal responsibility, rein in runaway spending, and grow the economy through pro-growth policies.
