The US Treasury Department stated on Tuesday that the country had reached the total public debt of $34 trillion for the first time in history, putting the US debt up 100% since 2014.
This debt balance exceeds the value of the economies of China, Germany, Japan, India and the UK combined, as the Daily Treasury Statement for Friday displayed the total public debt outstanding, which surged from $33.911 trillion on Thursday to $34.001 trillion.
The congress will resume its meeting on January 19 and February 2 to resolve the government spending through September, amid the request by the Republican to lower the 2024 fiscal discretionary spending to below the limit that was agreed in June.
The government will be forced to shut down if it fails to approve the fiscal 2024 spending bills, while it becomes harder to achieve the goal as the November presidential and congressional elections get closer.
Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, entitled the debt figure as “a truly depressing achievement,” but also stated that the committee were still hopeful that policymakers will deploy measures to further cut the country’s borrowing.
