US national debt surpasses $34T for first time

The U.S. national debt surpassed $34 trillion for the first time last week, according to newly released data from the Treasury Department. 

The total public debt outstanding reached $34.001 trillion Friday, just more than three months after first crossing the $33 trillion mark.

The latest milestone for the national debt comes as Congress faces even more spending deadlines as it returns in the new year after narrowly averting government shutdowns twice last fall.

Under a stopgap measure passed in November, funding for four federal agencies is set to lapse Jan. 19, while funding for the rest of the government will expire two weeks later, on Feb. 2.

The growing debt pile has repeatedly been a source of tension in recent battles over government funding, including in last spring’s standoff over the borrowing limit.

While President Biden and House Republicans ultimately reached a deal to raise the debt limit just days before the U.S. was set to default, Fitch Ratings downgraded the country’s credit rating from “AAA” to “AA+” in August. 

The ratings agency cited the U.S.’s increasing debt burden and repeated partisan battles over the debt limit in its decision. 

“In Fitch’s view, there has been a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, including on fiscal and debt matters,” Fitch said at the time.