Robert Schmid
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), America’s debt is growing faster than previously expected, thanks in huge part to actions taken by the Biden administration and recent legislation.
The projected U.S. deficit for fiscal year 2024 is $1.9 trillion, $400 billion higher than forecast in February, CBO announced Tuesday. CBO analysts raised their estimates, in huge part because of the foreign aid package signed by President Joe Biden in April and his administration’s efforts to reduce student loan balances.
If the U.S. continues on its current course, CBO projects its debt will reach $50.7 trillion by the end of 2034, up from $26.2 trillion at the end of 2023. The estimate projects debt to be about 122% of U.S. GDP in 2034 CBO projections.
CBO notes that after Biden signed the bill, projections should have included $95 billion in aid for Ukraine, Israel and countries in the Indo-Pacific region, which increased the deficit.
To account for Biden’s April proposal for student loan debt forgiveness, CBO included $66 billion in costs in its forecast, half of the estimated $132 billion in program costs. CBO allocated only half of the program costs to control the possibility that the debt forgiveness rule would not be finalized. If the Biden administration manages to finalize this rule, CBO’s forecast will increase by another $66 billion.
“These are staggering numbers and point to the end of civilization,” Georgia Republican Mike Collins said on the X show: react to the recent CBO forecasts. “Congress must take the issue of annual deficits and national debt seriously. This can’t go on any longer.”
Other factors CBO found to be contributing to the deficit included increased Medicaid costs and higher FDIC insurance spending in the wake of banking industry turmoil in 2023 and 2024.
The amount of interest the federal government will have to pay on its debt is also projected to increase, with net interest spending estimated at $892 billion in 2024 and rising to $1.7 trillion in 2034, according to CBO. . In addition to having to pay interest on its debts, so does the United States faces an estimated $93.1 trillion in unfunded liabilities for programs like Social Security.
The White House in March released statement that says Biden’s budget will reduce the deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade.
“I cut the deficit by over a trillion dollars” – the president he said in October in the same month. “Donald Trump has increased the national debt by more than any presidential term in American history,” he continued.
USA today fact checking called that claim false, pointing out that the national debt grew more under former President Barack Obama in raw dollars than under Trump.
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Robert Schmad is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
