U.S. national debt surpasses $35 trillion

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) -- The U.S. surpassed $35 trillion in debt, while the chairman of the Federal Reserve continues to urge lawmakers to manage deficits. About $78,000 was added to the national debt every second, over the past year, equivalent to the average yearly salary of someone living in New York.

“The United States is running a very large deficit at a time when we have full employment,” said Chairman Jerome Powell at the European Central Banking forum last month. “The level of debt that we have is not unsustainable. The path that we’re on is unsustainable.”

Democrats and Republicans have blamed each other for the rising deficits and the growing debt. Democrats blamed the Trump-era tax cuts. The Congressional Budget Office estimated it added $1.843 trillion to the debt between 2018 and 2028.

“It was costly. It was regressive. It did not pay for itself,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Republicans, meantime, blame the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan. It sent $1,400 stimulus checks to every American, in addition to other pandemic-related spending.

“They did that in a single bill, the American Rescue Plan,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “$1.9 trillion of totally unnecessary spending.”

Either way, Cole said, Congress doesn’t control much of the annual budget. Mandatory spending accounts for 73% of the U.S.’s yearly spending, including programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

“They’ve been running on autopilot since Ronald Reagan fixed Social Security back in ’83,” Cole said. “Neither side has been honest with the American people.”

Cole said he would like to see a bipartisan commission come up with recommendations to get mandatory spending under control. He said it should happen sooner, rather than later.