#USNationalDebt Total gross federal debt: About $36.21 trillion as of June 4, 2025 — an increase of approximately $1.56 trillion over the past year
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Publicly held debt: $28.95 trillion
Intra-governmental holdings: $7.26 trillion
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Per‑capita burden: Roughly $106,447 per person, or $273,904 per household
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Annual interest cost: Around $233 billion paid to trust funds in the past 12 months; net interest accounts for ~13.6% of federal outlays
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Debt-to-GDP ratio:
~124% by end‑2024
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Projected trend: upwards, potentially reaching ~126–128% by 2027 .
What’s Driving the Surge?
Persistent annual deficits
– FY 2024 deficit was ~$1.83 trillion (~6.4% of GDP)
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Structural tailwinds
– Boomers aging → soaring Social Security and Medicare costs.
– High U.S. healthcare inflation.
– Revenues don’t keep pace with rising expenditures
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Rising interest expenses
– Higher interest rates have pushed average debt cost over 3.36%
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– Interest payments are now the second-largest federal expense after Social Security
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Why It Matters & What Experts Say
Investor confidence:
Credit agencies like Moody’s downgraded U.S. debt to Aa1 due to fiscal concerns
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Rising Treasury yields reflect perceptions of growing risk
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Economic burden:
Interest costs crowd out vital spending (infrastructure, defense, research)
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